Public opinion triumphs on sewage project
Victoria News Editorial,
May 30, 2014
Directors and staff at the Capital Regional District are left with their heads spinning this week after B.C. Environment Minister Mary Polak officially refused to force the construction of a wastewater treatment plant at McLoughlin Point in Esquimalt.
Polak’s choice was relatively straightforward: side with the autonomy of a local government or face a backlash of exasperated Capital Region residents.
The CRD wasted no time after Polak’s announcement to wave the white flag, conceding it would abandon all hope of developing the site and suggesting the near two-thirds funding from the province and federal government is now at risk.
Indeed, the future of the Seaterra program itself is now in question, and its fate could be decided at a June 11 CRD board meeting.
But the tipping point has been a long time coming. Greater Victoria residents are upset for good reason: the necessity of community buy-in for this project continues to be little more than an afterthought.
Of course, directors and staff wasted no time establishing an appointed commission and program director to implement the $788-million program, citing a need to move quickly to avoid cost overruns.
Yet it’s exactly this sort of frantic pace that compelled the CRD to sink $17 million into an industrial site on Viewfield Road, only to be left as hesitant landlord when nearby residents understandably felt duped at the prospect of a biosolids plant in their backyard.
The panic to push through rezoning at McLoughlin Point now means hundreds of staff hours were wasted, and we’ve yet to see what fines could be levelled against the CRD when the successful bidder reads the fine print on their contract.
Perhaps the elation felt by many from the meaningful outcome of their participation in public hearings will lapse into cynicism by next week. But as Esquimalt Mayor Barb Desjardins said, at least for today, many in the Capital Region are breathing a collective sigh of relief for a project they thought was long past their influence.
Online comments:
Monty Wiseman:Time for the CRD to realize they need to change the conversation from blaming everyone else to realizing its their actions and misguided decisions that have lead to this current situation. They arrived here because they have continually misrepresented issues such as buying Viewfield without due process and have underestimated the citizens ability to comprehend what they are doing and FIGHT BACK. There is a public process that demands you not make in-camera decisions then present them at a forum misleading people to think they have no choice for feed back. The public has given you feedback loud and clear...respect the process and the citizens you work for or you'll arrive back here again and again and again.
John Newcomb: Palmer implies residents are just NIMBYies for not wanting a sewage sludge processing plant only a few metres from their homes and families but sludge processing plants are biohazards that are so unsafe that they are routinely located far from residential areas. How could the CRD even think of putting such a hazardous complex near people?? Here is video of a sludge plant burning on outskirts of Sittard, Holland and at 02:13, watch it explode and firemen start running: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UPyzOwXmcY t
Marsha Henderson:That claim of needing 'to move quickly to avoid cost overruns' was also apparently used in the Johnson St Bridge project. Interestingly the same engineer involved there as was/is involved with the sewage project.
The sad thing is that IF transparent community consultation had been done at the beginning and throughout the process, instead of substituting 'engagement' PR at the back end, we may have been well on our way to having treatment in place by now. The CRD, and likely most of the current municipal politicians, don't seem to recognize this. And they've lost the public's trust.
Victoria News Editorial,
May 30, 2014
Directors and staff at the Capital Regional District are left with their heads spinning this week after B.C. Environment Minister Mary Polak officially refused to force the construction of a wastewater treatment plant at McLoughlin Point in Esquimalt.
Polak’s choice was relatively straightforward: side with the autonomy of a local government or face a backlash of exasperated Capital Region residents.
The CRD wasted no time after Polak’s announcement to wave the white flag, conceding it would abandon all hope of developing the site and suggesting the near two-thirds funding from the province and federal government is now at risk.
Indeed, the future of the Seaterra program itself is now in question, and its fate could be decided at a June 11 CRD board meeting.
But the tipping point has been a long time coming. Greater Victoria residents are upset for good reason: the necessity of community buy-in for this project continues to be little more than an afterthought.
Of course, directors and staff wasted no time establishing an appointed commission and program director to implement the $788-million program, citing a need to move quickly to avoid cost overruns.
Yet it’s exactly this sort of frantic pace that compelled the CRD to sink $17 million into an industrial site on Viewfield Road, only to be left as hesitant landlord when nearby residents understandably felt duped at the prospect of a biosolids plant in their backyard.
The panic to push through rezoning at McLoughlin Point now means hundreds of staff hours were wasted, and we’ve yet to see what fines could be levelled against the CRD when the successful bidder reads the fine print on their contract.
Perhaps the elation felt by many from the meaningful outcome of their participation in public hearings will lapse into cynicism by next week. But as Esquimalt Mayor Barb Desjardins said, at least for today, many in the Capital Region are breathing a collective sigh of relief for a project they thought was long past their influence.
Online comments:
Monty Wiseman:Time for the CRD to realize they need to change the conversation from blaming everyone else to realizing its their actions and misguided decisions that have lead to this current situation. They arrived here because they have continually misrepresented issues such as buying Viewfield without due process and have underestimated the citizens ability to comprehend what they are doing and FIGHT BACK. There is a public process that demands you not make in-camera decisions then present them at a forum misleading people to think they have no choice for feed back. The public has given you feedback loud and clear...respect the process and the citizens you work for or you'll arrive back here again and again and again.
John Newcomb: Palmer implies residents are just NIMBYies for not wanting a sewage sludge processing plant only a few metres from their homes and families but sludge processing plants are biohazards that are so unsafe that they are routinely located far from residential areas. How could the CRD even think of putting such a hazardous complex near people?? Here is video of a sludge plant burning on outskirts of Sittard, Holland and at 02:13, watch it explode and firemen start running: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UPyzOwXmcY t
Marsha Henderson:That claim of needing 'to move quickly to avoid cost overruns' was also apparently used in the Johnson St Bridge project. Interestingly the same engineer involved there as was/is involved with the sewage project.
The sad thing is that IF transparent community consultation had been done at the beginning and throughout the process, instead of substituting 'engagement' PR at the back end, we may have been well on our way to having treatment in place by now. The CRD, and likely most of the current municipal politicians, don't seem to recognize this. And they've lost the public's trust.