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Editorial: Important to plan now for inevitable change in future hospital area

The building of a new hospital on Bell McKinnon Road will dramatically change the area.
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A new hospital for Cowichan will bring changes to the Bell McKinnon area. (Citizen file)

The building of a new hospital on Bell McKinnon Road will dramatically change the area.

That’s why it’s so important for people to let their voices be heard now about just what they want that to look like.

Right now, the area chosen for the new hospital is dotted with large rural properties. But if the future unfolds anything like it has is most other places where a new hospital is built, that is likely to change, unless specific provisions are made to stop it.

Hospitals attract development. Take a look at the area around the hospital in Victoria or Nanaimo — any available land is quickly snapped up for new townhouses and condo developments, along with smaller housing lots. It is likely there will even be pressure for commercial development near the new institution.

Some neighbours may see this as an opportunity, while others will likely be resistant. The key will be coming up with a plan in advance that sets out an acceptable compromise.

We don’t want to see the complete loss of farmland in the area, for example, but new higher density housing wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing in some locations.

There is a meeting coming up on Jan. 31 for people to tell North Cowichan what they’d like to include in a local area plan for the Bell McKinnon area. This is your chance to argue your case, whether you’re for densification or preserving things as they are. The municipality needs to hear from you now, so we can all properly plan for the future. The biggest problems occur when planning is left too late and haphazard changes take place with neighbours unprepared and not knowing what they can expect.

That doesn’t have to be the case in this area, if everyone gets together now. There likely won’t be a perfect plan that will totally satisfy everyone, but the more voices heard now, the more a plan can satisfy the majority.