Letters

Dear Santa,

Re: the letter, Rail line the answer to the Malahat. As we have seen recently, rail service is not impervious to flooding.

What a joke. The city that blasts mountains to smithereens, cuts down forests, destroys wetlands, not to mention its plastic grass boulevards, now declares itself green by using special cement. Unbelievable.

The article by Wolf Depner in the Nov. 25 edition of the Peninsula News Review suggests west Sidney’s Rotary Park would be a suitable location for an activity proven to be a source of significant noise pollution and an irritant for neighbors.

Your editorial of Nov. 24 was very timely and covered some of the measures that will be needed to mitigate the effects of the inevitable future climate disasters. Unfortunately, you neglected to mention the only measure that stands some chance of eventually limiting the increasing frequency and destructiveness of such events.

As area residents and dog owners, we have a number of serious concerns regarding the proposal for an off-leash dog park. Resthaven Park is a waterfront oasis of tranquility enjoyed by seniors’ walking groups, nature-lovers, families, speed walkers, and people with limited mobility who sit on the benches to read and picnic. Leashed well-behaved dogs also frequent this park with their owners.

In the spring of 2014, Sidney’s then-mayor Cross struck a mayor’s downtown revitalization task force and I was appointed vice-chair to Mark Dickinson’s chairman. Mr. Dickinson led a cross-functional team of dedicated citizens, representatives from the chamber of commerce, Sidney BIA, as well as town staff to renew the economic development strategy for Sidney.

Thank you to Couns. Charlayne Thornton-Joe and Marianne Alto for proposing a suitable compromise to the reconfiguration of Clover Point for the benefit of all users. Their proposal sensibly suggests that during the winter storm months, the traffic barriers be removed and vehicle occupants be allowed to park facing west to storm watch in a sheltered environment.

At the B.C. government’s Nov. 28 media conference, Minister of Transportation Rob Fleming was asked if people would be able to travel into the Interior for the holidays on Highway 3, which is only open for freight and essential travel. Fleming’s non-answer did not even include the word ‘bus’.

I read your recent article: “Pup-up parks in Saanich yield positive results.” While this headline might be true for the pop-up pilot as a whole, a quick review of the survey feedback shows that some parks were more successful than others.