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Residents don’t want Youbou bypass road

TimberWest’s solution for Youbou truck dust is to create more dust and log our mountainside!
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Residents don’t want Youbou bypass road

TimberWest’s solution for Youbou truck dust is to create more dust and log our mountainside!

The Youbou town meeting on Monday night was planned, supposedly, to inform the local residents of TimberWest’s plans for dealing with the ongoing truck dust on Youbou Road.

Mr. Iannidinardo, TimberWest VP of Forestry and Sustainability began by enlightening us as to what great corporate citizens TimberWest are. He then proceeded to outline a solution of paving 10 kilometers beyond Youbou, prior to the logging trucks coming into town. This option would mitigate the dust and was enthusiastically received by the audience. However, he then quickly downplayed this solution as difficult because they would have to negotiate with the Youbou mill site owners.

Next he outlined their second option for the road dust — a bypass gravel road running behind the town and all along the North Arm, parallel to the existing Youbou Road.

To this idea, the residents showed unanimous dissent; voicing concerns about the new dust that would be generated all along the mountainside, slope destabilization, and the impact on spawning streams, the watershed and the community.

However, it soon became apparent, that TimberWest’s concern about the dust issues was only to dress up their plan for a bypass road to facilitate their logging of our beautiful mountainside.

Mr. Iannidinardo seemed to show little concern for what the residents were saying.

The TimberWest website states: “Our planning and stewardship of these forests focus on the values of nature and our neighbours. Key to our success is the ongoing cooperation and mutual respect we share with our communities and partners.”

I suggest he reacquaint himself with his company’s mission statement and not build a bypass road along the North Arm of Youbou.

Donna Macdonald

Youbou