City of Powell River councillors were presented a vision for the old golf course lands in Townsite.
At the September 12 city council meeting, Stephen Miller appeared to outline his concept for what the city could do to preserve the lands as a public asset.
Miller said he had a vision for the 80-acres, known as the old golf course lands, that go from Townsite to Millenium Park.
“The vision is to create a land trust that will protect the lands in perpetuity and allow the lands to be enjoyed by everyone in the qathet Regional District,” said Miller. “I believe that this idea will be welcomed by everyone in the community because everyone will be able to enjoy these lands in perpetuity.
“A land trust, or foundation, is an entity that has a fiduciary responsibility to manage and administer the lands for the benefit of all beneficiaries.”
Miller said proceeding with the vision would protect the natural beauty of the land, it will connect Millenium Park with Townsite, so people will be able to start at Willingdon Beach and walk through the trail and go all the way to Townsite.
“We would look at creating story trails, which would tell the story of the origins of the land, plus the Tla’amin and their founding of the land,” said Miller.
He added there could be stories about the mill and what the owners did to build Townsite, and the houses in Townsite. He said it would maintain all the pathways and trails through the 80 acres and would protect the environmental, ecological, historical and cultural attributes of the land.
Miller said the city could sell the 80 acres to a trust or foundation with conditions to maintain and preserve the land, or, the city could contract with a trust or a foundation to maintain and preserve the land.
“It’s a net gain for the city, either through the sale of the land, or an expense savings for the city due to no maintenance for the land, since the foundation or trust will be in charge of maintaining the land,” said Miller.
“What I’m looking for from council is a nod of approval that they think this is a good idea.”
Councillors spoke favourably about the proposal but no concrete action was taken.
Join the Peak’s email list for the top headlines right in your inbox Monday to Friday.
