The Town of Qualicum Beach will need to cut down trees when it relocates its current public work yards to a location on Jones Street and Rupert Road, just west of the current facility.
A resident at the town’s committee of the whole meeting on April 21 raised some concerns.
CAO Daniel Sailland confirmed there will be trees removed when they start work on the project that will see public works and parks crews merge under one building in one location.
“It is an unfortunate reality,” said Sailland.
Coun. Teunis Westbroek pointed out there has been a lot of land being cleared of trees in areas under the Regional District of Nanaimo but wonders why they’re not getting a lot of attention.
“Not in Qualicum Beach very much but all around us,” he said. “I have seen huge areas of land being denuded from trees and not a peep.”
Westbroek indicated there seems to be no tree management and he hopes the town can bring up the issues to the meeting staff is preparing for with the RDN.
“Our CAO can perhaps include the concerns we get from our residents about the level of tree-cutting,” said Westbroek, who added, “I don’t blame people for getting upset when they hear chainsaws in Qualicum Beach. But when I see the clear cuts both in the areas west of us, east and south, and I go, ‘nobody even said anything. No comment in the paper. Nothing.’ Why all the focus even from people who don’t live in town they comment on tree being cut, and I don’t want to belittle that, in Qualicum Beach. So I would like to pass on that kind of sentiment when we meet as a council with other councils.”
The Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Region, according to Westbroek, has also invited the town to be involved in a tree-planting program. He made a notice of motion that council at its next meeting on April 28 discuss tree planting in the areas around the town that are part of the Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Region and also includes a large are of the regional district.
The committee endorsed Westbroek’s recommendation.