Editor:
The recent SCRD survey seeking input from the community into options for the location of the hall is clear. 64.5 per cent of respondents want a replacement hall at Coopers Green, not Connor Park.
This replacement hall has been a goal of the Halfmoon Bay community for almost a decade. Major fundraising efforts and planning toward this achievement have been voluntarily undertaken by many dedicated residents.
Then out of the blue, it seems, SCRD staff proposed another location for the hall. Connor Park! And this proposal was accepted by the SCRD committee of the whole on March 9.
For those who have consistently worked to achieve a replacement hall at Coopers Green, and have amassed significant donations to this end, this feels like a hijacking!
The budget for a replacement hall at Coopers Green had been approved over a year ago, but recently SCRD staff believed that issues of ocean flooding negated the Coopers Green location.
Wouldn’t it have been more prudent and respecting of the community, to try to mitigate those issues rather than throw away years of work?
Now the full SCRD Board will vote to finalize the recommendation for Connor Park on March 23. One wonders if anyone on that board will revisit their vote and take into consideration the years of work on this project, the true results of the community survey and the significant fundraising efforts by the community.
Gale Tyler, Halfmoon Bay
