Dear editor,
I wish to register my concern regarding the schedule and venues selected for the public meetings during the Public Comment Period for the Raven Underground Coal Project.
CoalWatch Comox Valley Society and a number of other organizations requested at a meeting with the BC EAO and the CEAA, prior to the Public Comment Period, that public comment meetings be held in at least Port Alberni, Fanny Bay, Courtenay/Comox, Denman Island, and Qualicum Beach/Parksville.
Meetings have not been scheduled for Denman, Fanny Bay, or the Qualicum Beach/Parksville area even though public information meetings re the Raven Project sponsored by community groups in those communities over the past year have filled the halls to capacity, indicating strong community interest.
The public information meetings noted above held in Denman had at least 220 Hornby/Denman Island residents in attendance, in Qualicum Beach – 300, and in Fanny Bay — 180.
However, instead of scheduling a public comment meeting at Fanny Bay, the centre closest to the location of the proposed mine, a decision was made to hold it in Union Bay.
It is highly unlikely that the Union Bay Community Club hall will be adequate for the number wanting to attend. This venue means extra travel for residents from all three communities where no public comment meetings are being held (Denman, Fanny Bay and Qualicum Beach/Parksville).
Denman/Hornby participants wanting to stay until the Union Bay public comment meeting ends, will miss the last ferry scheduled to their islands. There are safety concerns which have been raised by Denman/Hornby residents related to the plans for returning them to their island homes by water taxi.
Obviously a meeting could have been held at the Denman community hall, probably with less expense, and certainly with less inconvenience to the residents of Denman and Hornby.
The small team (made up of three government reps, three Raven Project Mine reps, and the event co-ordination team) running these meetings could have easily made their way to Denman rather than 200 or so Denman/Hornby residents having to make their way to Union Bay.
The date set for the Union Bay meeting is questionable. Why would anyone schedule a meeting for a Friday evening in June? Is that likely to be a time when most residents will be available for or want to attend a meeting — or is that perhaps the point?
It is shocking to me that the two communities in the Comox Valley most likely to be immediately impacted by the proposed Raven Underground Coal Project have been denied public comment meetings in their own communities.
These communities have deep concerns regarding the mine’s impact on their water quality (private wells, aquatic species), water quantity, and flow (all streams in the Raven tenure make their way down to Fanny Bay and Baynes Sound, a famous shellfish growing area).
Local people should be heard. They do know the nuances of their community; they can articulate what’s important to them. This emphasizes the reason why Denman and Hornby residents should have a local public comment meeting so that their voices will be heard, rather than taking a random chance that some of them will get into the Union Bay hall meeting, a meeting at which everyone can expect some will be turned away due to seating capacity.
The same holds true for the Fanny Bay residents. The residents of these two communities are as ‘local as you can get’ to the Raven Coal tenure’s possible and probable environmental impacts. They have a right to be heard!
Jaye Castleden,
Fanny Bay
