June director's report

 Director’s Report-by Area Director Sierra Acton

Love it!
We all love our Playgrounds and Galland Park is no exception. Recently the Cowichan Valley Regional District (CVRD) received a playground assessment report declaring the Galland Park Play structure was unsafe and removal was imminent. The kids in our community are our most precious resource, I applauded the CVRD for recognizing that limiting the risk is important. Sadly this play-structure is being replaced but the design and implementation is not decided yet so there will be a delay before the new playground is installed. It is unfortunate that the community, the Parks Commission and myself were not able to have this conversation earlier. In hindsight it would have been best to be planning for a new structure well in advance. Playground replacements are a conversation for the whole community to take part in, funding comes from our annual tax requisition from property taxes. This year the Park’s Commission (a community volunteer group who make recommendations in regards to Parks) was working towards replacing Old Mill’s playground and was just starting to discuss the Galland playground that replacement was coming up for next year. Now with removal on the horizon priorities need to be reviewed and gears shifted. It is not ideal that the Playground will be removed before summer. The positive is we now have an opportunity to look at the surrounding playgrounds as well so they can complement each other and we have a diverse range in the community. On June 24th at the Shawnigan Lake Community Centre from 6pm-8pm there will be opportunity to give your input on future playground design and planning for 4 Village Core Parks. From there ideas will be suggested and community input will be further requested on Placespeak. Also feel free to email me and I will forward to the right person at the CVRD.


Share it!
We as a community can be so kind, inclusive and generous. These are the predominant characteristics in our community. There are times we fall short, especially on social media. As a community we have a presense online but don’t forget your neighbours have feelings and see what is written. I am thrilled to meet people who have been here for decades and some only a year. We have grown 6% since 2011, considering how beautiful it is and the Malahat has been rebuilt it may pick up. People who are a part of our community may “demand more” and ask the questions that might need to be explored. Should we be incorporated, should we have control of our roads and should we have more say at the local level? These are simply questions. The issue comes in when people are dismissing these questions with rude remarks such as “move back to the city” etc. We are all part of this community wether we pay taxes or not , wether we want sidewalks or not and wether we want to grow thoughtfully or just let it happen. This is not a lecture just a reminder that all are welcome to be part of this community and certainly all are entitled to their opinion. My hope is we continue these tough discussions in a respectful and inclusive way.


Protect it!
The Shawnigan Research Group (SRG) and the Shawnigan Residents Association (SRA) continue to push for removal of the contaminated soil dump on lot 23. Recently in the Legislature during Question Period Sonia Furstenau lined up 3 questions over 3 days to address removal to the Minister of Mines and Natural Resources, the Minister of Environment and the Premier. Many community members were in attendance, thank you for your perseverance and commitment to community and for the removal of the contaminants. The decision to bury the 100k tones of contaminated dirt is before Minister Heyman and a decision is expected by summer. If any of the letter writers in the community wish to help put pressure on the decision please do, (insert email).


Our community gets noticebly bussier in the summer, watch for bikes, kids and more traffic in general. Hope you all have a fun filled safe summer!!!

Community Playground Discussions Openhouse June 24th 6pm-8pm @SLCC
I look forward to connecting;
Sierra.Acton@cvrd.bc.ca
(250) 715-6763 call/text
iloveshawnigan.com