Opinion

Flying garbage:
Resulf of higher costs

It’s happened at least twice in recent weeks and the way
things are shaping up, it could happen frequently in the time
ahead.

Bags of garbage were tossed out of a car windows onto
public roads in Central Saanich and North Saanich.

Perhaps the offender was trying to make a statement with
the typical brown shopping bag that burst on impact, spewing
its contents of old milk cartons, plastic wrappers and leftover
dinner all over Mt. Newton Crossroad Monday moming. The
week before, a portion of McTavish Road was littered with
household refuse.

Then again, perhaps the offender wasn’t make a statement
at all, but simply disposing of garbage in a financially-
prudent manner.

When all is said and done in most matters, the bottom line
is usually money. This issue relates to money as well.

Tipping fees at the CRD-operated Hartland landfill have
skyrocketed in recent years as the Blue Box recycling
program was launched. Because the CRD could not justify
increasing general taxation to pay for an economically-
unviable recycling program, the cost was transferred to the
user through tipping fees.

The rationale is that Joe Public will be encouraged to
recycle, therefore reducing the amount of garbage going into
the landfill, by the high cost of disposing of garbage.

That seems to be working to some degree as the
responsible members of the community are more careful
about what they buy, start compost piles, sort solid waste
materials into individual recycling piles and have about one
bag left for the landfill every two weeks.

But there is a two-fold downside. One downside is the
damage being done to our usually-beautiful roadsides by
those irresponsible members of the community who choose
to dispose of their garbage in an unconventional manner.
Bags of garbage are also likely hidden in less noticeable
places.

The only option municipalities have of catching offending
garbage dumpers is to undertake the smelly task of rooting
through the garbage in search of discarded letters bearing an
address, or other clues to determine the garbage’s previous
owner.

Another downside is the effect the increased tipping fee is
having on private waste haulers. Haulers have no choice but
to increase prices as tipping fees rise. It’s the old scenario of
killing the messenger as many consumers are finding the best
way to cut the added household expenditure is to cancel
garbage pick-up service.

Not only is the result unfair to private enterprise, it will
also mean less money into CRD coffers to pay for recycling.

This situation is going to get worse before it gets better.
The best way for consumers to react is to be responsible and
realize that there are real costs attached to the Blue Box
recycling program.

Volume 77 Issue No.15

TheReview

Wednesday, April 10,1991 — A6

CRELSONEEVE Lr

Letters to the edifor must be
signed and contain the writer's
address and telephone number.
Letters should not exceed 500
words in length and may be
edited for clarity, legality or taste.

TheReview

Serving The Saanich Peninsula
Since 1912

9726 Ist Street

Sidney, B.C V8L 3C9

or RO. Box 2070

Sidney, B.C V8L 3S5

Second Class Mail Registration #0128
Published every Wednesday

656-1151

Publisher: Vic Swan Editor: Glenn Werkman
AN ISLAND PUBLISHERS NEWSPAPER

<u OES
5 > si
<1 BOIAN COM Une

PAP Ens 2530 er
WEWSPapEasCO

—=
VERIFIED
CIRCULAT-ON

D> <a

* CONTROLLED

“WELL... THAT TAKES CARE OF WHERE To FauT The NEW School.
AND LEAVES US WITH A NEW PROBLEA= BUSING’ ”

Community plan
requires change

Editor:

Concerning your editorial
(Community plan: Amendments
becoming revisions, The Review,
April 3); Central Saanich’s official
community plan do not represent
the wishes of a large number of
residents.

Our association, the Mount
Newton Valley Conservation
‘Society, has over 500 supporters in
Central Saanich.

The association made written
and oral presentations to the previ-
ous council about the Official
Community Plan. Only one out of
our six main requests was incor-
porated in the Official Community
Plan. :

In my view, the reason for the
results of the November election
was council’s encouragement of
poorly controlled growth com-
bined with a rejection of the
official community plan by a large
number of residents.

The official community plan, as
it stands, has some serious flaws.
One is that it designates a very
large area of the municipality as
“Urban Reserve.”

This encourages developers and
distorts land prices. The only way
that the Saanich Peninsula can be
saved from urbanization and the
destruction of open areas and for-
ests is by restricting the rate of
growth and by restricting the areas
where growth is allowed.

The present council has a man-
date to change the growth and
zoning policies of the previous
council.

Andrew Yeoman

President

Mount Newton Valley
Conservation Society

New school site
is needed now

Editor:

On Feb. 4, 1991, Central Saa-
nich council voted unanimously to
forward School District 63’s appli-
cation to the Agricultural Land
Commission. It requested “per-
mitted’ use within the ALR of a

portion of the Delamere property
for a replacement of Mt. Newton
Middle School. On March 28,
1991 the land commission consid-
ered the application and rejected
it.

Over 635 students attend Mt.
Newton School now. Within the
next five years approximately
1,630 students will pass through
its doors to a rundown, over-
crowded building with very little
surrounding land.

A new school in Central Saa-
nich was needed five years ago and
the need is now one of utmost
urgency.

We believe in preservation of
agricultural land, but not to the
extent of denying the school board
the site required to build this
desperately needed school in our
community. _

The municipality of Central
Saanich has a land base of 5,007
hectares. The land area devoted to
agriculture represents approxi-
mately 2,127 hectares. Only 4.5
hectares are required for this
school site.

Golf, pitch-and-putt courses or
driving ranges including club
houses, restaurants, pro-shops and
similar ancillary facilities, horse
barns, riding rings, fish farms,
expanding existing gravel pits and
green houses are all permitted uses
within the ALR.

What are the priorities of a
government which will not allow a
school to be built in an agricultural
community when only agricultural
land is available for such a site?

While petitioning the commun-
ity in late February, it was made
very clear that many others feel
the need for this school is enough
to allow it to be built on agricul-
tural land. :

Agricultural land should be pre-
served, but not at the expense of
the future generations who will be
ithe recipients of this preservation.
They shouldn’t end up the victims
of legislation designated to protect
their heritage.

We would like to see a better
line of communication between
those parties making decisions
regarding school sites and the
members of this community.

The public needs to know the
difficulties and impossibilities
with regards to unchosen sites. A

lack of correct information and an
abundance of misinformation sur-
round the issue of replacing Mt.
Newton School.

The time for secrecy, power
struggles and protection of self-
interest groups is past. We do not
want to hear anyone else say “not
in my back yard!” This commun-
ity needs to pull together and get
this school built.

Construction of this school may
take 14 months. Time has almost
Tun Out in order to have a new
school in Central Saanich com-
pleted and open by September
1992.

Having this school in Central -

Saanich will form a part of the
heart of our community, It will be
a State-of-the-art facility whose
benefits will be unlimited. It surely
will be a source of pride and spirit
for the whole community and
especially for the children, who
after all, are our future.

M.L. Nyberg

Parents for Safety and
Replacement of Mt. Newton
Middle School

Bias revealed

Editor:

While I agree with independent
Saanich North and The Islands
candidate R.W. (Bob) Bowcott that
Mel Couvelier did the honorable
thing by resigning from the Vander
Zalm cabinet I am somewhat dis-
mayed that Bowcott would not
work harder to disguise his NDP
bias (‘Smoke screen’ for leader-
ship, The Review, March 20).

I would have believed Bowcott
was “independent” until he got on
the NDP theme and is too cute by
half criticizing MLA Terry
Huberts without even offering the
courtesy of using his name.

If Bowcott were to live in this
riding, he, too, would know better
than to link Terry and the Saanich
South constituency as somehow
being a ‘‘forerunner”’ leading
Social Credit discontent. Rubbish!

Terry Huberts has an excellent
constituency office fully operating
in Saanich South. Terry and Dale
and their two boys live in Saanich
South and, I’m assured, Terry has

Continued on Page A8&

ss

7