, the developers who purchased the logged lands across the Narrows, are inviting us to a Community Information Meeting regarding their Recreational/Residential Development plans. The details are:
Should you attend? We think you might want to after you read the following Globe & Mail article. It is long but very, very informative. Now, in light of what it tells us, stopping the planned Tsain-Ko logging takes on more urgency.
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(This following Globe & Mail article is posted on Three Point Properties own website)
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Forest refuge or future suburb?
Wilderness haven near Sooke threatened by developers’ multipurpose ambitions
SHANNON MONEO
Special to The Globe and Mail, March 5, 2007
SOOKE -- A few years ago when Alanda Carver went walking in the forests west of Sooke, she would hear eagles screeching and ravens calling. Today, she hears nothing, except for the occasional chainsaw. “People think of the wild West Coast,” said Ms. Carver. “Well, the wild is going out of the West Coast. It’s going and it’s going fast.” Ms. Carver, who lives in Otter Point, about 45 kilometres west of Victoria, attributes the wilderness loss to a forest free-for-all, where in the past few years forestry companies have been clear-cutting their land and then selling it to developers who are intent on building houses. “I don’t think people here want to be a giant subdivision of Victoria, but that’s the way it’s going,” said Ms. Carver, president of the Muir Creek Protection Society, which was formed to save the salmon-bearing stream.
Background: Bamberton & Three Point Properties
The historic Bamberton Lands are located approximately 40 kilometers from Victoria, BC and include 1500 acres of land and approximately 5 kilometers of Saanich Inlet oceanfront. Now abandoned, the site has played an important role in the industrial history of British Columbia. The Bamberton Lands sprang to life in 1912 with a cement manufacturing plant and distribution facility. The site offered a protected deep-sea port, a limestone supply and reliable source of water from Oliphant Lake. A small town grew around the industrial operation and thrived until 1982. Since then, a variety of businesses have utilized the site for industrial operations, storage, barge handling and truck loading.
In March 2005, Three Point Properties completed the purchase of the Bamberton lands. Building deconstruction and environmental remediation planning began in July 2005. While Three Point Properties is not the first team to envision an exciting new future for the Bamberton Lands, its vision for the property promises to take a measured and patient approach to any redevelopment to ensure the right uses and the right timing. The first step in this process was the facilitation of deconstruction and environmental remediation for the site, now in the final stages of completion. Three Point Properties is a local company that specializes in signature properties and seeks to create developments that are a credit to the community and friendly to the environment. The company is locally owned and operated. For more information people may go to www.threepointproperties.com.
One of Victoria’s top realtors last year thinks there is room for first-class homes and businesses to be built where third-growth forests once stood. Developers plan to go slow, wary of destroying the coastal wilderness that is attracting buyers from Victoria, Vancouver, Alberta, the United States and even Russia, said Shayne Fedosenko. “This is uncharted territory. It’s a hidden jewel from the rest of the world,” he said. The virgin land Mr. Fedosenko is referring to starts just outside of Sooke and runs 70-kilometres along Highway 14 (known as West Coast Road) to Port Renfrew. In between the towering firs and cedars, travellers get views of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, the rocky coastline and the seashore. Well-known provincial parks like French Beach and China Beach, where the Juan de Fuca Marine Trail begins, draw locals and tourists alike. At the hamlet of Jordan River and Sombrio Beach, challenging cold breakers entice surfers from around the world. When West Coast Road terminates at Port Renfrew, population 250, visitors can enjoy the famed tidal pools at Botanical Beach, go deep-sea fishing, begin their West Coast Trail adventure or soak up the rugged ambience in the former logging town. Developers and local residents are touting the area as the next Tofino-Ucluelet corridor, said Mr. Fedosenko, 39, who grew up in Sooke.
The beginnings could well be in Port Renfrew, where a large project is set to turn the sleepy village into a Ucluelet-on-the-Strait. In December, Victoria-based Three Point Properties bought 200 hectares in Port Renfrew from TimberWest for an undisclosed amount. Three Point’s 10-year plan calls for townhouses, businesses, high-end homes and even trailer parks to be built near the town’s core, said Mr. Fedosenko, who is sales agent for the development. Last year, TimberWest netted $32.9-million in real-estate sales, averaging about $25,000 per hectare. Over the next 10 to 15 years,38,000 more hectares of its private forest lands will hit the market. Port Renfrew’s drawing card, said Three Point partner Ross Tennant, was the village’s rugged coastline, spectacular fishing and the 2.5-hour drive from Victoria versus five hours to Tofino or Ucluelet.
Another project -- the Shores at Jordan River -- has 63 residential lots for sale on 80 hectares of former forest land. Included, are several million-dollar oceanfront plots. The developer, Victoria-based Bell Group, wants to buy more forestry land in the vicinity to build tourist-related facilities, said Mr. Fedosenko, Bell Group’s sales agent.
Ms. Carver, 43, is well aware of the development in her neighbour-woods. Sandwiched between Western Forest Products and TimberWest property, she’s been enduring “logging in stereo” when tree-cutters work on two properties. In some places, loggers have taken down everything in sight. Former loggers, like Ms. Carver’s husband, are shocked at the disregard for maintaining wildlife zones and setbacks along streams and rivers. Not far from her home, 165 houses are slated to be built on former forest company land, boosting the home count in unincorporated Otter Point to 865 from 700.
In January, the ante was upped when Duncan-based Western Forest Products was given permission by the province to remove land from its tree-farm licence 25 to help the company pay off its $200-million debt. Licence 25 includes 12,000 hectares that begin near Sooke Potholes Regional Park and reach to within 15 kilometres of Port Renfrew, creating a swath of potential real estate. Western Forest spokesman Gary Ley said no land has been identified for sale and it will be a lengthy process before plans are in place. “We’re not real-estate developers,” he said. Malahat-Juan de Fuca MLA John Horgan doesn’t agree. “They have no intention of preserving this land and every intention of marketing it to the highest bidder,” said Mr. Horgan, a member of the NDP caucus. Western Forest should be interested in silviculture and in creating forestry jobs, he said. Instead, because the land is no longer classified as a tree-farm licence, stringent environmental standards don’t apply and reforestation isn’t mandated.
Another concern is that the land is considered “forest land” so it isn’t included in any of the region’s official community plans which means municipal planning regulations are not in force, said Mr. Horgan. Developers can enjoy a free rein, said Ms. Carver, who warns that from Sooke to Port Renfrew, probably less than 1 per cent of the land is protected from logging or development. Between Sooke and French Beach Provincial Park, 20 kilometres from Sooke, only 15 hectares of parks exist. Victoria hikers, mountain bikers, kayakers, off-road motorcyclists and plant harvesters have been venturing west for decades without knowing how little of the land is protected, Ms. Carver said. In 2005, Ms. Carver led a stab at protection when the Muir Creek Protection Society began “agitating” for a park along the creek that is west of Sooke. The province has verbally agreed to pay TimberWest up to a third of what Ms. Carver said could cost $6-million for a four-kilometre stretch along Muir Creek. If successful, the park would represent an oasis in a disappearing and disconnected wilderness. “There’s nothing to attach it to,” Ms. Carver lamented.
(Note: The highlighting in this articles is ours. In regards to the Bamberton lands. Three Point is putting in 3, 200 homes on 630 hectares which will add a projected 8,000 new residents to the area. How did they end up here? Mr. Malloch, who logged the land as a partner in PNR moved over to Bamberton after he finished here and both he and Three Point have an established relationship with TimberWest who owned those lands prior to PNR . Here is an interesting page on TimberWest's own website. FOE warned about these developments three years ago on its ravagedegmont.com website. In light of Three Point's plans to buy the Egmont Marina and the fact they have already approached a nearby property owner regarding purchasing their land, we cannot urge you strongly enough to attend Monday's Meeting at the Hall! Get your questions ready and make sure they get answered!).
Chapman Creek supplies 80% of the Sunshine Coast's drinking water. Current industrial activities threaten the quality of this valuable resource. Did you realize that:
Confirmed speakers include:
