Willow MacDonald, the Thompson-Nicola Regional District director for Area B (Thompson Headwaters), posted on social media Wednesday evening that the proposal for a North Thompson Geopark received more than the 10 per cent No votes needed by the deadline on Tuesday afternoon.
That means that the Geopark proposal will not go ahead unless the regional district decides to take the question to referendum.
MacDonald wrote, “I just thought Area B, Blue River and Avola residents would like to know that the counter-petition votes were counted regarding the NT Geopark Service and the minimum number no-votes was received by the TNRD. Where we go from here will be decided by the board.”
The proposal would have seen the North Thompson Valley from south of Barriere to north of Blue River included in an application for Global Geopark status through UNESCO.
The TNRD board decided earlier this summer to put the proposal to an alternative approval process. That meant that if 10 per cent of the electors within the proposed service area sent in forms say they were opposed, then the proposal would not go ahead.
The cost of the Geopark service would not exceed the greater of $150,000 or 12.2 cents per $1,000 of net taxable value of land and improvements.
For a residence with the average value of $145,000, that would work out to a tax increase of $11.30 per year.
Geopark is an area recognized by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as having exceptional geological heritage with a natural landscape that is managed within a framework of protection, education and sustainable development.
