Editor:
On Nov. 28, I attended the open house for the proposed affordable housing project earmarked for construction inside the Charmin Creek Forest in Gibsons. Slated to talk were all parties with a vested interest in the project: employees of the Town of Gibsons, architects, members of the Affordable Housing Society, and so on. The purpose of this open house was to showcase the design and win over mounting opposition to the project. It was standing room only.
It became clear in a very short time that the attendees, though sympathetic to the lack of low-rental apartments, were very angry at losing the only remaining forested area in Gibsons for the construction of four apartment buildings. The Eagleview Heights property has already been decimated and the sacred Gospel Rock area is shortly due for the chainsaw and excavator. With the loss of the Charmin Creek Forest, there will be no virgin green space left within the boundaries of the Town of Gibsons.
I can already hear yowls from the “interested parties” purporting only 25 per cent of the forest is being destroyed and that the Inglis Trail running through it will not be lost. In fact the architect had the audacity to say at the open house that the buildings would not be visible from the trail. Now I ask you, as if that even matters! Wildlife living in that forest will be subjected to constant human noise 24 hours a day: cars and trucks going in and out, night lighting pollution, music, televisions and all other forms of human activity.
This project is the equivalent of the City of Vancouver proposing apartments be built in Stanley Park. It would never even be considered! It is environmentally obscene. This was a shortsighted idea by the previous Gibsons council. I hope the new council will be more sensitive to the motto of the Town they represent: “Nature is our most valuable asset.” Every effort should be made to find another site for the project. Recognize the worth of this green space and do not revise the Official Community Plan to accommodate a project that the locals are opposed to. The people have had their opinions ignored for long enough.
Norma Webb, Gibsons
