It comes down to dollars and cents!
Mayor Corner does not think much of the agricultural industry, Coldstream’s main industry. It appears that in his opinion this is an inferior industry and the agricultural industrial land does not deserve protection. The following reference illustrates his contempt:
“GVSC’s attempts to purchase land north of Kin Race Track have been unsuccessful in the past and it is too expensive because of the potential for commercial development there” (MS, 10-28-2007).
Any suggestion for alternatives is summarily discarded by our Mayor. Suggested alternative lands are either too small or too expensive. He seems to have blinders and anything other than the massive development proposed for the Aberdeen Road site is unacceptable. Perhaps if we reduced the size of the complex or located the fields in several smaller sites we could achieve the same purpose. But compromise does not seem to be in the cards for the Mayor with preconceived ideas.
Some of us believe that the agricultural industry is just as important, if not more so, than the horse racing industry or the airport industry on Okanagan Landing Road. If those lands are too important to be removed from those uses then so is the agricultural land.
Sport fields are important but they do not need to be concentrated on a single track of land. In fact, they could serve the general public better if they are located in various locations with easier access by local groups.
One of the major concern of many residents of Coldstream is the lack of local parks for children of younger ages. Mayor Corner should remember the delegations from Middleton Mountain residents demanding local parks. They even suggested leaving Greater Vernon Parks and Recreation (GVSC) as this organization appears to neglect the needs of the general taxpayer and only seems to cater to organized sports.
How many of the general public knew about the massive sports complex proposal before the request for alternate use of the Aberdeen property came before Council? It appears that organized sports, which originally made representation to GVSC in 2005, was instrumental in developing those plans and the general public was totally ignored and prevented from any input. Had they been consulted, those concerns of parents with young children would have surfaced and could have been considered.
Mayors and Councillors are elected to represent all members of the community!
Mayor Corner does not think much of the agricultural industry, Coldstream’s main industry. It appears that in his opinion this is an inferior industry and the agricultural industrial land does not deserve protection. The following reference illustrates his contempt:
“GVSC’s attempts to purchase land north of Kin Race Track have been unsuccessful in the past and it is too expensive because of the potential for commercial development there” (MS, 10-28-2007).
Any suggestion for alternatives is summarily discarded by our Mayor. Suggested alternative lands are either too small or too expensive. He seems to have blinders and anything other than the massive development proposed for the Aberdeen Road site is unacceptable. Perhaps if we reduced the size of the complex or located the fields in several smaller sites we could achieve the same purpose. But compromise does not seem to be in the cards for the Mayor with preconceived ideas.
Some of us believe that the agricultural industry is just as important, if not more so, than the horse racing industry or the airport industry on Okanagan Landing Road. If those lands are too important to be removed from those uses then so is the agricultural land.
Sport fields are important but they do not need to be concentrated on a single track of land. In fact, they could serve the general public better if they are located in various locations with easier access by local groups.
One of the major concern of many residents of Coldstream is the lack of local parks for children of younger ages. Mayor Corner should remember the delegations from Middleton Mountain residents demanding local parks. They even suggested leaving Greater Vernon Parks and Recreation (GVSC) as this organization appears to neglect the needs of the general taxpayer and only seems to cater to organized sports.
How many of the general public knew about the massive sports complex proposal before the request for alternate use of the Aberdeen property came before Council? It appears that organized sports, which originally made representation to GVSC in 2005, was instrumental in developing those plans and the general public was totally ignored and prevented from any input. Had they been consulted, those concerns of parents with young children would have surfaced and could have been considered.
Mayors and Councillors are elected to represent all members of the community!
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