Some wise words in NCow's OCP Reprinted from Sec. 8 of the North Cowichan Official Community Plan Neighbourhood Interaction We wish to explore ways of facilitating and enabling neighbourhoods and communities to be more fully involved in those matters having a direct impact on their area. Emphasis will also be placed on coordinating current initiatives as a means of developing a more comprehensive and integrated local involvement and action strategy. As Neighbourhoods demonstrate a greater degree of cohesion Council will seek to involve them further in: • Local land use decisions. • Environmental stewardship of... sensitive areas • Park development and acquisition. Neighbourhood Communications The District seeks to improve communications with neighbourhoods through the following means: •Meetings by Council in neighbourhoods to report on District activities and discuss neighbourhood matters. • Make provision on its web site for local neighbourhood groups and organizations that wish to post information. • Provide notice of meetings in bolder, simpler fashion in local papers. • Identify methods of “reporting back” to residents following local meetings. Seek to include representation from all neighbourhoods on advisory boards and committees. | Our growth centres
The above map (click on it for a big version) from the North Cowichan offficial community plan (OCP) shows Echo Heights (the bit in red) as the urban expansion area in Chemainus. Most of the rest of the town is in orange and is the growth centre because that's where "in-filling" will occur. This area includes the popular Hermit Trails (owned by the Oswald Smith Foundation which also operates the Festival Theatre, etc etc). Take note of the green areas which indicate the "urban green corridors". The biggest chunks of green are toward the bottom of the map. The lower one is Mt Brenton Golf Course. And the big one above that seems to be Chemainus RV Park! There's also a large green area along the foreshore north from Kin Beach, but take your gumboots if you're going for a stroll there. Also of interest is the large white bit of land to the east and south of the RV park. That's 77 acres of municipal property, zoned A2, stretching from River Road to the MacMillan haul road. Much of it is swampy along Mill Creek, but there are large areas that would be any developer's dream. The land is used as a gravel pit and also, apparently, a dumping ground for fill. Nearby are the newly-built Mill Creek Estates as well the expanding townhouse and other developments along River Road. Sewer comes to the edge of the property. It's close to downtown. Wonder what the "experts" see in store for us there? It seems to us that it's a prime housing site, far 'smarter' than Echo Heights.  Smart Growth -To some, the term "smart growth" is an oxymoron.
But for those of us who realize that zero-growth isn't a viable
alternative, we might as well grow wisely. One of the best resources is
Smart Growth BC. A visit to its web site offers much food for thought about the communities we live in and what we can do to make them better.MUST BE A VOCAL MINORITY...
Read the Chemainus Courier article about North Cowichan's ill-fated "charrette" on Echo Heights. | Charrette? You bet! Many of us learned this new word recently. It's the latest lingo used by urban planners to describe what most of us would call a "workshop". But urban planners (with an emphasis on "urban") like to use the word to describe a consultative process with residents during the process leading to development. Wikipedia discusses the origins of the word by saying: "Thought to originate from the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris in the 19th Century, 'charrette', French for 'cart', refers to the cart pushed around by professors to collect the final artwork by art and architecture students who were often in a frantic rush to finish their work." But then it goes on to say: "Charrette was also historically used to describe the cart used to push the condemned to the guillotine." Yikes! ALL IN A NAME "What really did it for me at the design charrette was when the so-called facilitator Mikey Van Hausen called that beautiful mossy spot where the blue camas grows Fairy Meadow. For gawd's sake... these guys fly over in their helicopters and gather their GPS readings and have the nerve to call a place they're going to destroy a name like Fairy Meadow."
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