CRC Trust Society makes clear its position

A Letter to the Bowen Island Undercurrent (27-Feb-2009)

As most people on Bowen already know, the CRC Trust Society has worked tirelessly for over 5 years to preserve and protect the lands of Cape Roger Curtis as stated in the mandate of the Islands Trust. The Trust Society is a group of people who would have preferred that the whole Cape be preserved as a park. In reality, this now appears not to be a possibility.

There are people on the island who think that the Trust Society would sacrifice anything to have part of this land preserved as a park. There are others who believe that the Trust Society is putting in jeopardy the possibility of any parkland at the Cape by taking a stand against the proposed “CRC Neighbourhood Plan”. To all those who hold either of these views I would say the following:

A park at Cape Roger Curtis would be a wonderful gift for those of us living on this island and an important legacy for future generations but we are not willing to sacrifice the quality of life of the rest of Bowen to preserve a small portion of the south west corner of this beautiful, rural municipality. As much as we care about the Cape lands, value the ecological uniqueness of it and recognize that compromise may be necessary, we also have a responsibility to consider the well-being of the island as a whole. We are not willing to put our interest in the preservation of Cape Roger Curtis ahead of our concern for the rest of Bowen Island and the diversity that it represents: its seniors; its low income residents; its business people; its commuters. It is for all these reasons that every member of the Cape Roger Curtis Trust Society Board has endorsed the “100 for Bowen ad.”

Ellen Coburn, on behalf of the Directors of the Trust Society