It was gratifying to hear all Oak Bay council members present at the Oct.12 council meeting express support for a strong community engagement process to determine the future of the Oak Bay Lodge property.
Council members were absolutely right to suggest that the two rounds of public consultation in various formats and reporting out by the Capital Regional Hospital District thus far were not sufficient for a property with such important implications for the future of our community. They were absolutely right to call for at least one more round of consultation and to affirm the need for high-quality, transparent and timely engagement with report backs to the community before decisions are made.
Wouldn’t it be great to see the same approach and concern applied to the decision-making around the new 30-year lease for the publicly owned Oak Bay Marina and Spewhung lands and waters? That property has equal significance for the future of our community, yet so far council hasn’t felt that Oak Bay residents deserve that level of input and consideration.
Let’s apply the same thorough, transparent and inclusive approach to the marina and Spewhung before we sign it away to a private company for another 30 years.
C. M. Armstrong
Oak Bay
