There is a new subdivision being put in at the corner of Derrick and Norris Road in North Saanich. There are huge piles of logs and debris from clear-cutting (and a ridiculous strip of scrub in a ‘tree protection’ area).
This kind of development is not OK. I don’t care if North Saanich says this situation is why they’re redoing the OCP and policies, at this time of climate crisis they should not be allowing the clear-cutting of six acres for the sole benefit of a developer. This is right by the Warrior Point trail and the Towner Crest rhododendron forest. North Saanich's revised Tree Protection Bylaw gives developers the right to clear all the trees for their 'building envelope'. Apparently, the building envelope encompasses the entire six acres. This is just wrong on every level.
More trees were removed along Derrick Road by BC Hydro for the benefit of the developer. And the stream that runs by the trail will be contaminated by the mud and runoff from the road building and debris cleanup.
North Saanich is the loser. Certainly, all the wildlife and birds that lived there have lost a home. The clearing was done during nesting season! Brutal!
Today I watched deer at the entrance looking across the barren ground. So, where are the animals supposed to go? What about the eradication of a complete ecosystem? We won't get it back.
The residents of North Saanich have lost the enjoyment of a natural trail as the trees were hacked down to provide room for a road. The remaining trees are falling down. When a North Saanich employee was marking the trees to be cut he told me there would be blow-down of the remaining trees. And guess what? In the recent high winds, trees came down in Towner Crest (apparently not North Saanich’s problem because they didn’t come down on public property even though their actions caused it) and trees continue to come down along the path.
I’m disgusted and totally saddened that this is how North Saanich treats the little remaining wild space we have left. Tree canopy be damned, they let developers make big bucks and leave us with the damage.
Sue Starkey
North Saanich
