Sooke Community and Real Estate Blog 642Blog.ca

Photo credit: sometimes_anna on Flickr

The Capital Regional District (CRD), along with non-profit The Land Conservancy (TLC) has agreed to buy up more than 2300 hectares (nearly 5700 acres) of land that was slated to go up for sale today. The land, belonging to Western Forest Products (WFP) has been the subject of much controversy in our area since the provincial government allowed WFP to remove its private lands from a tree-farm license (TFL) in 2007.

The lands being purchased include Sandcut Beach, the Jordan River surfing beach and townsite, and lands surrounding the Sooke River near Sooke Potholes Park.

While some of the land on the interior side of the highway may be sold off to help finance this purchase, most of it will be dedicated as park. One exciting feature of this deal is that the land acquired near the Potholes completes the Sea-to-Sea Green-Blue Belt, which, besides having the distinction of being the most awkwardly-named park reserve/network on the Island, will now stretch all the way from the Sooke Basin to Saanich Inlet.

The land deal is worth nearly $19 million, most of which is coming from the CRD’s parkland acquisition fund, and will be paid over 3 years. The rest of the money will come from TLC, and hopefully, the provincial government, who have been under fire since the land was released from the TFL three years ago. Many see it as an opportunity for the province to right a wrong that caused great controversy.

And speaking of the parkland acquisition fund… this is part of your yearly property taxes. Since it was established in 2000, it has been $10 per household per year, which has been well used in my opinion, protecting  nearly 3000 hectares of land at a value of nearly $31 million. Your contribution to the fund will be going up this year by $2, and will eventually rise to $20 per year, allowing the CRD to purchase lands such as the Jordan River WFP parcels for everyone’s use and enjoyment, forever. I’d happily pay $50 or even $100 per year to pad this fund and enable the special areas in our region to be protected. It’s a great example of taxpayer money going into something we all benefit from.

The deal is still tentative, but is slated to close in August. I’m looking forward to the CRD’s plan and longterm vision for these newly acquired lands.

What’s your take on this announcement? Good, bad, otherwise? State your opinion, but be nice to one another!

-Tim Ayres – Sooke Real Estate Professional

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Tagged: capital regional district | crd | Ender Ilkay | Jordan River | park | purchase | sandcut beach | Sooke | Sooke Potholes | TFL | TLC | WFP

As I watched the sun rising over the back fence and into my home office, I was reminded why I love this season so much.  The crisp, cool air, a bright blue sky, and the golden hue of the morning sun on the colourful autumn leaves prompted me to bundle up and shoot a few photos on a walk along the spectacular Sooke Harbour boardwalk.

Parking the car at the lot on Murray Road, I walked up Murray towards Sooke Road to capture some of the leaves in the trees. I had noticed this the last sunny day we had and had meant to get back there to capture it. Unfortunately the wind over the past few days has pretty much stripped the trees, but they still look pretty on the ground.

Walking down the hill towards the Rotary Pier/boardwalk access, I snapped a few photos of the sun shining through the leaves, and reflecting off the harbour.

I love looking at this house whenever I head out on the boardwalk.

The pier and boardwalk are framed perfectly by the trees

Just because it isn’t summer doesn’t mean you can’t toss a trap in the water for crab. It was deserted on the often-busy pier, save for this couple.

There were lots of leaves left on the trees along the water. The harbour was so still, it was like a mirror, reflecting the trees. Gorgeous!

The harbour boardwalk is a real gem, we’re lucky to have it. It goes from the bottom of Murray Road all the way to Ed Macgregor Park, where it switch-backs gently across the slope offering easy access to and from the water.

I hope you enjoyed the photos! If you’d like to see the whole set, you can view it on Flickr.

-Tim Ayres – Sooke Real Estate Professional

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You can bookmark this post using the button below,
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Popularity: 3% [?]

Tagged: autumn | BC | boardwalk | ed macgregor park | Fall | harbour | leaves | park | photo walk | photos | Sooke