As all who live in Sidney see every day, our town is experiencing a condo boom. Now there could be even more residential housing if the Cedarwood property development goes forward, and possibly another condo building on the corner of Highway 17 and Beacon Avenue.

We also know that there is a crisis-level shortage of family doctors on the southern Island, made worse by the 3,000 patients left without primary care with the closure of the clinic in View Royal.

There is an obvious implication for those contemplating moving to Sidney who cannot access primary medical care, possibly for years. If they are considering Sidney as a retirement option, concerns about medical care may be acute. This could limit the number of potential buyers for all the new units being built. Already, I know several people who have decided against moving here for this reason. Others may move here unaware of the family doctor crisis, and then want to sell their newly acquired units.

This is not the way to preserve a sense of community in our town. Are the developers or town council (or both) working to address this?

Susan McDaniel

Sidney