The tract of unused B.C. Hydro land between Haultain Street and Kings Road is not a park, itB次元官网网址檚 just been treated like one for more than 60 years.
The land is bordered on the west side by fast-flowing Bowker Creek and a uniform stand of trees that follow a well-used path along the creek. Some consider it a dog park. Essentially it is a dog park. Officially, it isnB次元官网网址檛, however, and there is a growing concern about exactly what the land might be used for if, in fact, BC Hydro plans to offload the land.
Rumours abound that the land has been sold. One Facebook reader said it was sold to a local Victoria developer. Ted Olynyk, the community relations manager for BC Hydro on Vancouver Island, had to laugh when he was recently told it had been sold to a developer in Vancouver.
However, there is no such plan to date, said Olynyk.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 essentially private property thatB次元官网网址檚 been left un-fenced since the 1950s,B次元官网网址� Olynyk said. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 not a park. It was bought as part of our future planning process to help meet future growth in the area. ItB次元官网网址檚 been kept by BC Hydro with the possibility of putting up a substation there.B次元官网网址�
BC Hydro revisits its land assets annually and as of 2017, there are no plans for the Haultain plot to be a substation. It is also not on the open market. However, there have been past inquiries and proposals made to B.C. Hydro about the land. About 10 years ago, B.C. Ambulance Services inquired about leasing part of the land, which is zoned for institutional use. That never went through.
Therefore, locals whoB次元官网网址檝e spent a lifetime cutting through the land can be forgiven if they were unaware that it is not a park. BC Hydro even spends money to maintain it, cutting the grass.
B次元官网网址淲hen people find out itB次元官网网址檚 not protected, that itB次元官网网址檚 not a park, they are surprised,B次元官网网址� said Caleb Horn, former vice-president of Camosun Community Association. B次元官网网址淲hen envisioning for the CCA, that land was identified as of great importance to the locals.B次元官网网址�
Many people in nearby Oak Bay also consider the land as an important greenspace, including Coun. Michelle Kirby.
B次元官网网址淔irst and foremost I hope it remains a greenspace and that whatever happens, it respects the 100-year Bowker Creek plan,B次元官网网址� Kirby said. B次元官网网址淲e want to retain the goal of seeing salmon return to the creek.B次元官网网址�
However, the region is in a housing crisis, so it wouldnB次元官网网址檛 be B次元官网网址榮o terribleB次元官网网址� if it was sold for development, though it would be really hard for the neighbourhood to accept it as anything other than a park, Kirby said.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 not an empty space that isnB次元官网网址檛 used, itB次元官网网址檚 well used, it meets all the criteria in my mind as something to be acquired as parkland.B次元官网网址�
Internet chat forums past (), and ) show there is a long history of use for the greenspace. Teens once referred to it as the Hydro Park, a place to drink booze in the 1970s and waste away the afternoon using the rope swing over Bowker Creek.
If B.C. Hydro ever does consider the land as surplus, it would follow a Crown process where other Crown corporations would have access to the land first. After that, itB次元官网网址檚 uncertain if Saanich or the CRD could purchase the land,
If it was sold it would have to be at a price acceptable to B.C. Hydro, Olynyk said.
B次元官网网址淏.C. Hydro is held accountable by a [province worth] of ratepayers who would want market value,B次元官网网址� Olynyk said.
reporter@saanichnews.com
