Community Input & Feedback
Planning Process to Date
The first presentation of the Living Forest Communities model to the Electoral Area Services Committee of the Cowichan Valley Regional District was on March 19th, 2007. Bill Turner of the Land Conservancy of Canada was present to answer questions. The Zoning Amendment Application, 13-B-07RS, was submitted in July 2007. In November 2007, Living Forest Communities made a presentation to the Area B Advisory Planning Commission, at which meeting there was time for a lengthy discussion about the proposal. Ann Mortifee, representing the Trust for Sustainable Forestry, also made a presentation in support of the model. In the end, the APC recommended that the proposal proceed to the drafting of the appropriate bylaws.In December 2007, we placed two ads in the Cowichan News Leader requesting volunteers from the CVRD to participate in a 3.5 day design charrette for the property, to be held January 13th – 16th. We were pleased to receive almost a dozen replies from very qualified residents. We then selected four people who indicated that they would participate as community representatives and provide local input to the design process. They were Brandy Gallagher, Lynn Curtis, Roger Wiles, and Daniel Lousier. All four residents are active contributors to the community, and all are members of environmental committees of the CVRD or other local ecological organizations. In the end, Daniel Lousier was unwell and unable to attend.
The community representatives along with a team of knowledgeable biologists, ecological consultants, engineers, designers, eco-foresters, and planners participated. In addition, we had three sessions where other members of the public could attend and we were pleased to have a handful of local residents and a representative from the APC at those meetings. The participation of the community representatives has assisted in the design directives, the policies, and the creation of the plans that have emerged. We want to thank all of the participants for their time and effort. On May 22, 2008, the CVRD held a public information meeting at the Shawnigan Lake Community Centre for us to present Living Forest Communities and the Elkington Forest project. The meeting was well-attended. Many came for both the open house held at 5:00PM and the presentation at 7:00PM. After a 30 minute presentation by Doug Makaroff, Barry Gates and Ayrie Cunliffe, we received great questions and suggestions from the audience. Doug and his team of experts responded to questions about ecosystem-based forestry, geothermal utilities, housing design guidelines, agroforestry opportunities, the role of the Trans Canada Trail and other great subjects.
The Cowichan Valley Citizen’s Sarah Simpson wrote an article about Living Forest Communities and Elkington Forest. It was featured in the May 28, 2008 edition of the Cowichan Valley Citizen and is available here. Titled “Development to preserve forestland”, this article was written in response to the public information meeting. We are very happy to have such a great response to our presentation. Thank you so much to Sarah Simpson and the Cowichan Valley Citizen for their great work!
Click here to read the article (PDF 384kb)
In their Cowichan Valley Business section, Business Vancouver Island recently wrote an article about Elkington Forest and the support it has received from the Cowichan Valley Regional District. Follow the following link to download the pdf of this article: Article | Business Vancouver Island - July 2008 (PDF 43kb)