The District of North Saanich is proposing to upgrade access to the Briarwood Place beach in response to complaints of day parking potentially blocking emergency vehicles.
The initial response to the complaints was to post no parking signs along the west side of the road. This forced parking to the east side of the road where there isn’t enough room to park without partially blocking the roadway (how was this not obvious?).
Then a survey was initiated. It was advertised in early spring; was it not obvious beach users go there in the summer? Responses were over 70% biased by residents living within 200 metres of the beach access. How is this statistically useful?
The conclusions of the survey (did they even look at the site?), which the district is now considering/planning for, will cost tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars, when removing a couple trees and a couple loads of gravel on the west side of the road (to harden the shoulder), is all that is required to fix the problem.
I have contacted the mayor, but he has chosen not to respond. I have two issues: the irresponsible spending of tax dollars; and the steps taken that likely biased a response to the complaint.
The west side of the roadway is currently suitable for parking with minor modifications. Involving users should be fully transparent. A municipal council must be accountable to its taxpayers.
Frank Gee
North Saanich
