Greetings,
At a recent meeting of the Goward House Board we considered the recent draft U.Vic Campus Plan. In that discussion the idea arose of the possibility of a ‘land swap’ between the University and the Municipality.
The general idea in broad terms would entail the Municipality giving land from the current Haro Rd. Park property at the corner of Finnerty Rd. and Arbutus Rd. to the University in exchange for the University turning over the Queenswood property to Saanich for designation as parkland.
Obviously this would be a major change and require many hoops to be jumped through, however it might be a major advantage to the University as they would gain a property much closer to campus. While the Queenswood property by its location and nature might serve better as a park.
Clearly we at Goward House would prefer a park across from our forest lands instead of a university development.
As the University is a mammoth organization seemingly bent on relentless expansion, we feel any way we might nudge them in a direction away from the development of the Queenswood property would benefit not only us but the wider Cadboro Bay community as well.
We share this very general concept with you to see if you feel any sort of initiative in this direction might have some merit.
Best regards,
David Eyles
Chair, Goward House Society
