Duncan - I'm writing to voice my dismay at North Cowichan council's decision at their July 2 meeting to move the University Village Urban Containment Boundary from Beverly Street north to the dike. This now means that land north of Beverly Street to the dike has changed from "rural" zoning to "urban" zoning. My fear is that this now opens the door for increased density and development at the expense of readily-accessible land that could be preserved for parks, natural habitats and environmental education purposes.
I moved back to the Cowichan Valley from the lower mainland specifically to get away from urban sprawl and the insidious creep of development. Surely we already have enough urban space targeted for higher density and re-development without having to gobble up even more land for the same purpose?What really concerns me is that the result of five public input meetings (paid for by taxpayers no doubt) was that 66 per cent of respondents wished to keep the boundary at Beverly Street while 26 per cent wanted it at the dike. It seems that Mayor Lefebure is the only one in attendance who "gets" it since he was the only voice that opposed this revision.If this is democracy in action then I certainly am looking forward to seeing some new faces on council come the next municipal election.Gary FitzgibbonDuncan