We CAN save Linley valley and other valued areas
One Linley Valley pond -soon to be lost? The area pictured here, complete with a beaver dam -yet tucked out of sight- will be destroyed by a proposed housing development this year. Public opposition to the plan is fierce. Yet the land is privately owned, and the city says it cannot afford to buy it. Competing interests are at work here: tax-payers money, company profit, recreational opportunities, and the future of the beavers and the many others that call this valley home. There are a number of ways that all these interests can be satisfied. Provincial subsidies of the oil and gas industry (about $350 million each year) could instead be used to buy valuable urban spaces such as Linley Valley and the Colliery dams. Nanaimo is not alone is its concerns about lost urban green spaces. As populations increase pressure only grows on what remains of park-land like areas. Yet green spaces are proven to improve our health and attract companies, amongst other benefits. S