“Lack of consultation – Parks commission only looked at the opinion of one group, but not for the input of the disabled
Excerpt from The Star column by Darrell Bellaart published July 19, 2008:
One has to question whether the public’s best interest are served when the parks commission presents city council with recommendations based on input from one user group with out adequately consulting the group that the service is for.
That seems to be the case when the commission asked city council to halt the tendering process on an elevator for Frank Crane arena that the disabled community has been asking for for years.
The decision was based on comments from the Nanaimo Clippers, the junior A hockey team that is the biggest user of the arena.”
Petition to the Office of the Auditor General of Canada - Protecting Cat Stream and Jingle Pot Marsh in Nanaimo, British Columbia. See: http://www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/internet/English/pet_225_e_30320.html
“The existing paved trail through the wetland poses a potential risk to wildlife and may impede movement of wildlife, including species at risk. As a general approach, Environment Canada prefers that travel corridors are available for wildlife.” - The Hon. John Baird, Minister of the Environment
“As we see it, our role in this process is to provide pertinent information on the natural history of the Jinglepot Marsh area…The Nanaimo Field Naturalist have been using this area for their entire 30 year history, as an outdoor classroom and as a recreational site. We have put countless hours into caring for it and over the years have hauled many, many loads of refuse out of this are to the local dump. This site is also a key area in our X-mas bird count due to the large number of Virginia Rails and other species using the area. We are dedicated to doing as much as we can to preserving this habitat for the creatures that live there and the people who enjoy them.” – Guy L. Monty, President, Nanaimo Field Naturalists
The Jingle Pot Marsh area has the “highest wintering density in Canada” of Virginia Rails (a freshwater marsh bird). – 1997 Environmental Assessment of 1651 Jingle Pot Road, J.C. Lee & Associates report
Re: Jingle Pot Marsh – “I documented home range size of both breeding and wintering Virginia Rails in Arizona in my MS Thesis… One might want to protect a buffer equal to the radius (or diameter) of the average home range size for Virginia Rails (1.64 ha during breeding season, and 2.41 ha in winter). If you assume a typical home range is a circle, then the radius of a 1.64 ha home range would be about 65m and the diameter would be about 130m. If you use the 2.41 ha winter home range (perhaps more appropriate for your situation), a circular home range of 2.41 ha would have a radius of about 80m and a diameter of about 160m. Any development that affects the water regime in the marsh is of more importance. Virginia Rails need soft mud or sand within emergent marsh vegetation for foraging and nesting. A drop in the water table could lead to reduction in preferred habitat.” – Dr. Courtney J. Conway, University of Arizona
“We have received and reviewed a significant amount of information that would suggest that the proposed development (sports fields) could adversely impact an area of extreme environmental sensitivity that is the habitat of a number of migratory birds, including the Virginia Rail (yellow listed – 1997), rare plant (e.g. Vancouver Island Beggar Tick) and amphibian (e.g. red-legged frog – blue-listed) species and is the headwaters of Cat Stream Creek, a fish-bearing stream. Unfortunately, it seems that from the material we have reviewed the intent of maximizing the useable ground space for sports fields at the expense of the well-documented environmental values the area supports is taking precedence. This is exemplified by the City’s apparent refusal to consider affording an 80 meter set back on the property to protect the habitat of the Virginia Rail.” – John Werring, Senior Staff Scientist, Sierra Legal Defence Fund
“Jinglepot Marsh has high wildlife values. The presence of large numbers of Virginia Rails is significant. This uncommon bird is losing habitat in areas such as this where development pressure is intense… The high biodiversity and rare species of the Jingle Pot wetland make the site a conservation priority.” – Jan Kirkby, Conservation Science Ecologist, BC Conservation Data Centre (A joint program of BC Environment, The Nature Trust of BC, Nature Conservancy of Canada, and the US Nature Conservancy)
Re: Jingle Pot Marsh – “Apart from concerns regarding water quality impacts, the greatest concerns with playfield development adjacent to the wetlands are noise and effects of night lighting, which may discourage wildlife use or nesting and/or increase predation on nocturnal species.” – from City of Nanaimo commissioned, J.C. Lee & Assoc. Report
Re: Jingle Pot Marsh – “Pesticides, lawn care chemicals, road salt, a fuel spill in the parking lot or even something as minor as an unintentional over application of fertilizer could be the final straw that tips the balance against the fish”. – Kevin L. Telfer RPF Bio.
Re: Jingle Pot Marsh. “Altered water flow and the use of fertilizers and other chemicals on the adjacent ball fields will likely have an impact on the marsh’s chemistry and temperature.” – Dr. Gordon Hartman, Fisheries and Oceans Scientist (Ret.)
“At Jingle Pot you (we) are dealing with a wetland habitat – a relatively rare commodity these days and a habitat that is easily maligned and very easily damaged or compromised. Wetlands have a high biodiversity. I think we all agree that for the Jingle Pot/Catstream headwater we want to maintain and hopefully improve what wetland habitat remains.” – Bill Merilees, (Biologist), Chair, Buttertubs Marsh Liaison Committee
“The local area of the Jingle Pot Marsh is a major wintering spot for the Virginia Rail that is being threatened by a campaign to fill in part of the wetlands in order to build baseball fields… I ask that in your capacity as Minister of Environment you give this serious concern careful consideration.” – Reed Elley, MP (excerpt from letter, 2001)
Re: Jingle Pot Marsh – “Environment Canada officials have already stated publicly the Department’s concerns with this proposed development. In particular, we have expressed concern about the proximity of the baseball fields to the wetland identified in the Inventory, the possible hydrological effects of the development on the wetland, and the potential effect on wintering Virginia Rails.” – David Anderson, Minister of Environment (excerpt from letter, 2001)
“Canadian Wildlife Services’ position with respect to development within Sensitive Ecosystem Inventory (SEI) polygons is that any further development within them is not condoned. This is based on the very real concern for the continued degradation of sensitive, rare, and fragile ecosystems of East Vancouver – Gulf Island study area. Results from the SEI study - the first of its kind - clearly showed development has resulted in substantial habitat loss and fragmentation. Degradation appears to be ongoing, the net effect being the cumulative loss of these important ecosystems over the entire study area.” – Andrew G. Robinson, Environmental Assessment Officer, Canadian Wildlife Service
Re: Beneath the Jingle Pot Marsh area: “Statement of Problem: Portions of the property have been undermined by coal-mine workings … Prior to redevelopment of the subject property, it may be necessary to conduct remedial works… to arrest further deformation of the overlying strata… the alternative to remedial work is partial condemnation of a site, by building ‘no-build zones’.” – Westwater Mining Ltd, 1999 Third Street Remediation Review Report
“Unfortunately, wetland loss continues in Canada. As much as 70 per cent of Canada’s original wetlands have been lost in some areas of the country.” – Ducks Unlimited Canada
“Canada has 14% of the planet’s wetlands. Today, Canadian wetlands are under pressure from agriculture, urban and industrial land use development. Recreation activities can either preserve the natural condition of wetlands or be part of their destruction. Many activities such as hunting, fishing and bird-watching are considered non-destructive. How-ever, other recreational activities involving the construction of facilities such as marinas and docks, cottages and beaches are destructive to wetlands.” – Natural Resources Canada
“This Department acknowledges efforts of Friends of the Cat Stream to protect the fish and fish habitat value of this marsh, and we recognize that this objective is not possible without efforts from local stewardship groups such as yours.” – Bruce MacDonald, R.P. Bio, Area Chief, Habitat and Enhancement Branch
Re: 2006 Letter Writing Campaign – “Thank you for your interest in wetland conservation and good luck with your endeavours!” – Lynette Mader, Communications Manager (Ontario), Ducks Unlimited Canada
We need to encourage municipalities like Nanaimo not to take advantage of weak environmental laws in Canada, to follow environmental guidelines, to adopt better rules for community engagement, to allow predictability in the land-use process, and to find meaningfully ways to prevent the negative ecological consequences of degrading our vital wetland habitats.
We are asking you for your help to save and restore a small patch of vital wetland habitat in Nanaimo.
Email why you are not going to visit Nanaimo or VIU to: mayor.council@nanaimo.ca; president@viu.ca