To the Editor,
I am writing with regard to the development currently underway on a road linking Turner Road just off Uplands Drive with Rutherford Road. The new road will require extensive logging as well as the destruction of much of the small wetland behind the Oliver Woods Community Centre. In fact, logging is ongoing at a rapid pace.
I beg city council to consider stopping work on this project immediately and indefinitely.
If you wander down the short trail to the little dock, you will find a beautiful pond surrounded by tall trees on all sides. There’s no traffic noise. It’s an extraordinarily peaceful spot to feed the ducks, poke around on forest trails, and feel closer to nature.
In my view, the area has more value to the community as a natural space than it does as a redundant connecting road or yet another cookie-cutter suburban neighbourhood. This small wetland doesn’t look like much on Google Earth, but it is truly a jewel. The area is mostly undeveloped but has great potential as a natural park. It begs for a loop trail around the lake, as well as picnic facilities and the like.
Many who live in the area have been unaware of the development plan until recently. There is a groundswell of concern; parents at the community centre park today were just becoming aware of the ongoing destruction and were surprised and upset by the plan.
Please stop the logging and defer the project for the year. I hope council will give us one more chance, rather than endorsing the continued destruction of a very special area that has the potential to become one of the most beautiful parks in Nanaimo.
Gabriel Baumanvia e-mail