Re: ‘Pool upgrades a priority’ (PQB News, May 23)
It seems we now have yet another group called Oceanside Services Committee studying the need for a new pool (at taxpayer expense) while taxpayers continue to make do with the existing, overcrowded pool - and face the unacceptable/unimaginable prospect of losing even that to construction for an entire year!
Nice to know that “creating additional space” at Ravensong has been deemed “a priority” but it’s not as simple as adding a new tank (reducing the already limited parking still further) but also upgrading the men’s and women’s changerooms and increasing the number of family/disabled/transgender changerooms - because the current four are nowhere near enough to meet demand and they’re inaccessible to many people with disabilities because the doors don’t open electronically.
Your article also reports that the RDN is kicking the “pool can” even further down the street by waiting until 2020 to START on a “concept design plan for a centralized indoor and outdoor sport and recreation complex for Oceanside” when the need is already established (just copy Beban Pool and tack on a gym and indoor walking track).
The taxpayers of Parksville (who form the majority of customers at Ravensong) complain constantly that their requests to the city for a new pool/sports complex/indoor walking track are going unheard while their property taxes keep going up and they watch more and more subdivisions being built all around them that fill city coffers but increase the pressure on existing facilities.
Many of the large number of seniors who live in this area - and the snowbirds who visit - depend on Ravensong Pool for maintaining mobility (and keeping them out of hospitals and nursing homes) while tourists and newcomers expect to have somewhere to swim/exercise year-round and the ongoing problem of young families, doctors, etc., not moving here will never be resolved until there are decent recreational facilities available to them.
Ann Jessey
Qualicum Beach