To the Editor,
Joni Mitchell wrote, “They paved paradise/And put up a parking lot”.
It seems that some in city hall want to do just that when it comes to Departure Bay.
Departure Bay is unique in this city. Mostly natural, it is a swimming beach popular with skim boarders, beachcombers, walkers and runners.
People come by car, foot, bicycle and boat to picnic at the park, swim, fish and enjoy the view.
I live on Battersea Road and appreciate the view, the quiet and all the walkers, runners, kayakers and crabbers who use the waterfront road I live on.
A walkway extending from the ferry terminal to the Kin Hut in Departure Bay – an old debate resurrected by city officials recently – would allow me to avoid the steep hill out of Departure Bay when I ride my bicycle to work, but the natural beach as we have it now will be destroyed.
A boardwalk built on concrete pilings and overhanging the natural shoreline would cost the taxpayer millions of dollars to build.
All this for a few people to walk from downtown to Departure Bay?
The city already seems to be a bit short of funds to spend on other projects that would be of better use and is it worth it to destroy a natural coastline, one of the last ones left in Nanaimo?
One cannot condone the destruction of the beautiful, natural Departure Bay coastline based on the whim of a few city officials.
Gerard St Jean
Nanaimo