Editor:
I live in a rural coastal community. The lot size here is about .69 of an acre and most of the properties on my street are about the same size. For years, the properties on either side of ours sat vacant with a shed or derelict cabin and most of the trees on them were still standing – the lots green and full of biodiversity. Then, one lot was sold and then the other.
Then came the tree fallers, logging trucks and dump trucks to destroy the ecosystem and biodiversity on either side.
Now, we live between clearcuts.
Development should not mean let’s just mow everything down for a house, some gravel and some manicured grass.
For rural B.C., losing a few trees for a house would be fine as long as the integrity of the area is left intact, but clearcutting almost the whole .69 of an acre or other bigger size lot in every case is really not OK.
Lately, I have seen the total destruction of these types of properties in my area as they sell over and over and I feel the loss every time.
A solution is needed. Let’s look at thirds for a half-acre lot or larger: one third for development, one third left natural and one third landscaped. This seems fair: fair to nature, fair to the neighbours and fair to new homeowners.
If we are to continue to live healthily on this planet we need to keep our biodiversity, ecosystems and natural world as intact as we can.
Please contact your planners, rural governments, regional districts, community boards, towns and cities as well as the Union of BC Municipalities and the BC Government. It’s time to make nature a priority.
Or, do you want to live between clearcuts?
JC Sigurdson, Roberts Creek
