It appears that a compromise solution to the proposed bike skills park is at hand. After a long meeting with a lot of speakers, the district’s Committee of the Whole voted and Mayor Milne’s option for refurbishing the existing park at SEAPARC was what was passed by the 4-3 vote. The councillors who voted against this option were the same ones who voted for the bike park in John Phillips Memorial Park. The point is, there will still be a bike park but it won’t be on as large as scale as the bike club wanted.
Let’s hope they can all sit together and come up with a great park for the little kids, after all it is the younger set who grow up and want to expand their biking skills and they can then do that at places like the CRD park off Harbourview.
It doesn’t please a lot of people, but if this issue had gone to referendum, chances are the end result would have been the same. People in Sooke want to retain JPMP as it is with as little impact on the neighbours as possible.
If the bike club could have shown they had the financial resources to build and maintain the park, perhaps the outcome would have been different. When you expect volunteers to work endlessly to fix, maintain and supervise action at a park, they get burned out pretty quickly and it isn’t fair to the ones who are left holding the bag — and that would have been the district. Liability issues, parking, washrooms, etc., are all in place at SEAPARC while they are not at JPMP. Originally this was built with the same promises from the bikers and it fell into disrepair likely because of the lack of volunteer labour. Kids will ride to SEAPARC, the same as they ride to the skateboard park.
Now we need to shake off any bad feeling and move forward for what is best for the kids and youth, because that is who the park is made for. Put your egos aside and do what is best for the kids.
