Studies still needed for CRC park success

Dear Mayor and Council,

I apologize for the last-minute letter; however, the timing of the Metro announcement of the purchase of the Cape Roger Curtis land has created some urgency.

It appears that at a regional park at CRC is a certainty as Council has indicated its support and Metro has announced its decision to purchase the land. We now have one known and a long list of unknowns with respect to the financial burden to Bowen and Metro We will have to wait and see what the social impact will be for Islanders

Whether or not camping will be permitted is one of the unknowns, most visitors will be day-trippers and in either case Bowen will be faced with significant challenges

I am concerned that to date neither Bowen nor Metro has any concrete plan or accurate costing of how to get tens of thousands of additional visitors to and across the island, but my primary concern is dealing with the problem of moving them across the island.

If Bowen is to have any hope of dealing with short and long-range consequences of the proposed park, the following list of information is needed With all respect to Metro, Council needs independent verification of Metro’s estimates as these will be the numbers funding agreements are based on

Prior to making any decision to proceed with second reading Council should commission independent reports on:

1) The anticipated number of day and overnight visitors. The Metro estimate of 73,000 seems unrealistic given that their current estimate of 150,000 visitors to Crippen Park.

2) The anticipated number of visitors likely to travel by automobile, bus, bicycle, and on foot, respectively.

3) The anticipated numbers of day and overnight visitors likely to use services in Snug Cove Village.

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- Wade Davis, OC