In my last two letters, I’ve bemoaned the lack of support for Mount Douglas Park by both the Parks Department (and indirectly council) and by residents. The park is deteriorating and will continue to do so, due to the the lack of TLC by the department in particular and by residents’/users’ apathy in general.
To illustrate this situation further, it is useful to look at some dollar figures. I wrote to the Finance Department for some numbers on the annual dollars spent on Mt. Doug Park, but unfortunately, they don’t keep that detail. So, on the back of an envelope, I estimated that Parks expends no more than $10,000 per annum on the park. Now, let’s look at some comparisons.
Finance advised that the new (short) cycle corridor at Borden and Mackenzie cost $730,000. That’s effectively equivalent to 73 years of annual expenditure at Mt. Doug Park. In addition, cycling related expenditures in the current year will amount to $2.1 million, or an equivalent of 210 years of Mt. Doug Park expenditure.
Furthermore, they advised that the new Wilkinson Road bridge, including the trail extension to Colquitz River Trail, cost $6.65 million. In other words, a small vehicular bridge and short trail extension cost an an equivalent of 665 years of annual expenditures in the park.
When considering the improvements to the cycling lanes in Saanich, it’s interesting to note that a small group of committed individuals has generated such a large change in our society. Like non-smoking regulation and environmental protection, small groups of enthusiasts banding together have had an outsized impact in driving changes to our culture, society and governments.
That’s the depressing part of the situation at the park. Residents too have the power to organize in order to benefit the park, but, by their general neglect, they condemn the park to suffer its slow, creeping degradation.
To conclude, some years ago, I wrote to the previous mayor and expressed my disgust with the treatment of the park. In my letter, I stated that this crown jewel of the Saanich parks system had been given to the district by the province, and we had truly breached the good will and faith of the grant. I suggested that the most honest, ethical thing for the municipality to do would be to just give back the park.
Of course, nothing happened in response, and, in the intervening years, not much has changed within the park. And that’s exactly how things will continue to stand, until people demand something different.
Dave Poje
Saanich