2293days since
The infamous planning 'charrette' on Echo Heights Forest by North Cowichan which brought the community together into the CRA

Community Bulletin Board

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Hot Tips
From E.J. - Those old creasote ties along the E&N should be disposed of properly. There is a big pile just above Askew Creek.
From Mary - People are already starting to dump their yard waste in ditches and along the railway line. This just spreads invasive species. We have free yard waste dumping at Peerless Road. Use it!
From Rodney - The old MacMillan haul road is getting to be a pig sty. Why do people throw their garbage there? It pollutes Mill Creek and looks ugly.
From T.R.J. - Askew Park is called a "wilderness park". Why doesn't someone (the muni, CRA, Communities in Bloom) take care of the invasive plants like the daphne, blackberry, holly, ivy and other stuff?
From F.R. - I see the Victoria Police are cracking down on loud motorcycles and cars. Can North Cowichan RCMP start doing the same thing? Chemainus and Victoria Roads need policing for noise and speed.
From Don - Communities in Bloom do hard work at the roundabout, but why plant all those annuals and exotics that need watering. We have some great native plants in our yard that are beautiful, perennial and NEVER need watering.

CRA and ELC Team Up Again

Echo Heights a park? Maybe it already is!

A young law student is looking at the historical use of Echo Heights Forest as parkland. And she is asking for the Chemainus community’s help.

Kyra Bell-Pasht, from UVic’s Environmental Law Centre, will be the featured speaker at a Town Hall meeting at Chemainus Legion at 7 p.m. on June 17. She will be talking about her research project and the legal arguments for recognizing Echo Heights as de facto parkland.

She is asking for people’s memories – both recent and historical – about their use of the publicly owned 52 acres. Her partner in the project, the Chemainus Residents Association, is already lining up local Echo Heights users to make brief presentations during the meeting.

“There is a reason why Echo Heights is a special place for residents and visitors to Chemainus,” said Kyra. “I am looking forward to meeting people who can give me first-hand information about that.

“I will prepare legal arguments for the CRA, arguing that Echo Heights should be preserved as a park because, in reality, that is what it has been for the past 40 or 50 years.”

Kyra is currently in her final semester of law school at the University of Victoria on exchange from Bond University Law School in Australia. She is originally from Toronto.

She plans to present her legal arguments on Echo Heights to North Cowichan council later this summer.

“The CRA is excited to be working with the Environmental Law Centre once again,” said Johanna Reymerink said. “They worked with us in 2006 and 2007 on projects that really opened up the debate on the future of Echo Heights.”

She said there is mounting evidence that the forest should be preserved. A recent recreation needs assessment for Chemainus listed its importance for residents while the business case for residential development has disappeared in the current economy.

Johanna  said she hoped that residents’ recollections, the legal arguments and final submission of the original 1,300-name petition for preserving the forest will convince council that the time is right for saving Echo Heights.