VIEWPOINTS Letters Galore EDITORIAL

Our readers have been writing up quite a storm lately, it is great to see! Not only does it mean there’s a lot of you engaged in our community happenings, but a healthy Viewpoints section makes my Wednesday layout duties much easier A win-win! While the dominant topic lately is of course, the park proposal, we are also receiving some good content on some of Bowen’s other important issues, including the Community Centre and BC Ferries to name a few This week we finally managed to clear a multi-week letter backlog re: the above mentioned park, with room for five letters on the topic But since there’s a good chance we’ll be flooded again one day soon, a quick note on how letters are chosen when the community is hot on a topic One of the main factors is time, which can work both ways Sending letters in early can put you to the front of the line, but sometimes a time-sensitive note will arrive later, and the early bird may be bumped slightly Topic is important too, as we try and cover as much as possible each issue That wasn’t a problem this week as nearly all letters, save the important Snug Cove note, were on the same topic But, when we get a high volume of letters on one issue, only so many can run a week

Overall rest assured though, if you take the time to sit down and write, your thoughts will (eventually) hit the page!

- Alex Kurial, Editor

Letters To The Editor

Who are we prioritizing?

The concept of a new Metro Park on Bowen with a campground may sound like a great idea at first, but I think the reality will leave a lot to be desired, and once in place it will be impossible to remove.

For me, the idea of having 400 or so off-islanders coming from the ferry and making their way to the far side of the island all summer long seems a bit ridiculous considering the challenges we already experience with the flood of tourists How do we stop them from bringing their cars? If they do come on foot, how will they get to the Cape and how will they be resupplied when they run out of beer and weed?

Firstly, our ferry is already overloaded and thin on the required staff to keep Boweners happy Adding even more newbies to the terminal will make life miserable for us all Priority loading for Islanders is a subject we should be thinking about now, even if camping is not allowed. That will require some rethinking by BC Ferries and I’m not confident in their ability to make that happen We can’t get them to change the tickets which tell all the newbies to line up for lane 69 How will they deal with priority loading?

Once the new visitors arrive, how will they journey to the Cape? On foot? Not likely By bicycle? Can you imagine hundreds of bicycles making their way to the Cape and back? I have cycled Bowen for many years and it is quite dangerous as the roads are too narrow and car drivers either don’t see us or don’t know how to pass us safely A dedicated, wide and paved bike lane would be the solution, but what would that cost? Many millions and I’m sure the residents of

Whitesails will be thrilled Shuttle bus? Give me a break! 400 campers represents a 10% increase in our population, so what about the other services that will be required? Policing, Ambulance, Fire, Search and Rescue These services are already thin and we are entertaining thoughts of increasing their load with 400 party animals?

There are many more issues than these, and I think that preserving the Cape as park land is a great idea rather than homes for the very wealthy The concept of a Campground has some huge challenges A park, yes Will that fulfill Metro Parks’ vision? Probably not, but then they don’t live here

- Doug Nash

THE WRITE STUFF. The Undercurrent encourages reader participation in your community newspaper You must include your full name and a daytime phone number (for verification only). The editor reserves the right to edit for clarity, legality, brevity and taste. Please limit to under 500 words HERE’S HOW: To submit a letter to the editor, fax 604-947-0148 or mail it to #102, 495 Bowen Island Trunk Road , PO Box 130, Bowen Island, BC V0N 1G0 or email editor@bowenislandundercurrent com

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ISSN 7819-5040

EDITOR Alex Kurial editor@bowenisland undercurrent com

ADVERTISING Tracey Wait ads@bowenisland undercurrent com

CARTOONIST Ron Woodall

PUBLISHER Matt Blair publisher@bowenisland undercurrent com

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