qRD board to write province about state of Inland Lake trail

qathet Regional District’s board has voted to write correspondence to the province asking the government to look after its assets at Inland Lake Provincial Park.

Electoral Area B director Mark Gisborne said there is not only concern about the bridge, which is in disrepair, but for the trail around the lake itself. He said he appreciated correspondence from minister of environment George Heyman, but was disappointed with the potential timeline for getting the bridge fixed.

“We’ve been hearing a lot of concern in the community, not just about the bridge, but of the state of the entire trail itself,” said Gisborne. “We can send a nicer letter saying the bridge is of concern and we’re glad you’re taking it seriously, but we also want to make sure they are looking at the whole rest of the trail.

“The letter can be directed toward the assets of the trail. There has been a lot of focus on the bridge and I’m glad that it is being taken seriously but there are other parts of the trail that are having issues, like with strollers and accessibility.”

Last month at a committee of the whole meeting, directors reviewed correspondence from Heyman about the state of disrepair of the trail.

City of Powell River director Cindy Elliott said another part of the correspondence to the minister would be to review the assets handed over to the province and how the community paid for those assets to be built. She said the deal was for the province to maintain the assets, which currently are not at all accessible, like it was intended to be.

“I’m wondering if we should provide a contextual history around what was handed over and what we currently have,” said Elliott. “It’s a huge concern to the community, which is really quite upset about it.”

Electoral Area A director Jason Lennox said it was nice to see a detailed response from the minister.

“I take director Gisborne’s point that it is more than just the bridge,” said Lennox. “There’s a lot of community interest in this. They are seeking federal funding for this, which is a little odd. We can gently remind them that we need that maintenance.”

Electoral Area E director Andrew Fall said the correspondence should include the reminder that maintenance of these assets should be in the park management plan.

“They should be doing asset management of these important assets in the long term, with the reminder that they were given to them in good condition, so the least they could do is maintain them,” said Fall. “They seem to be taking it seriously and are prioritizing it.”

Electoral Area C director and board chair Clay Brander said it appeared the regional board was pleased with the response from the minister and the board wants to send a letter, but not take on an aggressive tone.

The motion to write the minister carried unanimously.

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