Planning for a Strong Tomorrow

Planning for a Strong Tomorrow
by Sierra Acton CVRD Director Area 

On the evening of February 25th the Shawnigan Lake Community Centre was standing room only as the implementation of the ThinkShawnigan Village Plan was passed to community by Micheal Von Hausen Inc. The community was all set to host a hands on workshop to start implementing the plan when COVID suddenly became a reality. The workshop was cancelled. Since then some preliminary steps have been taken: there have been some exciting conversations with business stakeholders in the Village on how we can begin to bring to life some of the aesthetic suggestions that were made and the Ministry of Transportation (MOTI) has reviewed the plan as it relates to traffic patterns through the Village and is checking their "toolbox" to see what they can do to support the vision. Now I am reaching out to see how the community sees itself working through this plan? See the plan: https://www.cvrd.bc.ca/DocumentCenter/View/96504/Shawnigan-Lake-Village-Plan-Jan-2020


COVID has required all our organizations and businesses to be creative and innovate. Historically, we have enjoyed the kick-off to summer with the Canada Day Parade and events at Elsie Miles park. Because of COVID, the Shawnigan Lake Community Association planned a virtual scavenger hunt for the families in our community instead and it was a HUGE success. We also recognized that now more than ever we must support our local businesses. In response the Shawnigan Residents Association developed a community directory of ALL Local Businesses including home-based. This was implemented quickly with the support of all the CVRD South Cowichan Area Directors. If you have a business to promote contact them at shawniganresidentsassociation@gmail.com. If you are a local in South Cowichan you can find this directory at www.theSRA.ca/directory


Now that the sun is shining, everyone wants to enjoy the lake. In many cases, the most convenient access point is one of the many road ends around the lake. There are always mixed feelings about making a road end into a public park; increased use can create parking issues, litter and noise complaints to name a few of the challenges. The CVRD has a mandate for regional issues that benefit the community at large and in many cases, neighbourhoods want access, but not necessarily a CVRD ‘promoted’ public park. If you are passionate about increasing public access in your neighbourhood, I want to help make that vision a reality. Please step forward and let me know. This issue has been talked about for many years because it’s not an easy one to solve, but a determined community can accomplish a lot. For more information please check out one of my recent posts on the issue; http://www.iloveshawnigan.com/blog/archives/02-2020


During these unprecedented times it is often challenging to deal with the unknown, but I am confident that our small, innovative and collaborative community can come together to support each other and to support our local businesses.


Although I am on Zoom more often than not, my phone still works, please reach out. Have a great Summer, Sierra Acton, (250)-715-6763 Sierra.Acton@cvrd.bc.ca