Bill Dancer, one of the new members of the CBRA board of directors, reports from the Eastside Community Dialogue meetings of May 30 and 31:
Public input was sought to whittle down the 38 specific sites for sewage treatment that had been forwarded by the municipalities of Victoria, Oak Bay and Saanich, to identify other perspective sites, and to comment on the municipalities’ considerations with regard to the sites. The manner of wastewater treatment and associated considerations
was also involved.
Approximately 250 individuals attended either one or both meetings, and clarifications of the definition of criteria being Met, Not met, Not fully met and Partially met helped assuage initial concerns about their meaning. In addition, the following resolutions were agreed:
- The sewage treatment system should be distributed, rather than one large plant
- Treatment should be full tertiary
treatment, but cost-effective—if it cannot be cost-effective, the system should be built so as to be modifiable to full tertiary at a future date.- The design of treatment plants must be neighbourhood-friendly and a positive contributor to their surroundings.
- If the site is in a public space (e.g. apark), it must ensure continuing access to the park.
- Treed areas must not be used—only brown-earth spaces, particularly if one large plant involved.
- University of
Victoria should be involved.- Full-life cycle costs must be provided.
Sites that appeared to most favoured were
Clover Point; Saanich Public Works Yard (Borden Street); Victoria Public Works
Yard; Rock Bay area; and the UVic campus.The Core Area Wastewater Management
Committee meeting of the 10th June included a request to CRD staff
for a report on requirements to purchase or lease privately owned land.At the Eastside Community meeting held at
the Belfry Theatre on June 10, the results of the May 30/31 Dialogues were presented. Sites were classified as being either Publicly Unacceptable,
Possibly acceptable with conditions, or Publicly Acceptable. Acceptable sites were: Coast Guard Base (Huron Street); BC Hydro site; Transport Canada site; private
sites in Rock Bay; Clover Point; Victoria Public Works Yard; and UVic campus
area (both sides of MacKenzie Avenue, from Finnerty Road junction to a point
adjacent to Fire Station 3).Amongst the Publicly Unacceptable sites: the two Haro Woods sites. In addition, the area covering mainly Queen Alexandra’s Trust
lands was rated possibly acceptable with conditions.
For further information, please email Bill Dancer.
