The Town of Lake Cowichan has been dealt a slight blow in its bid for tree grants to coincide with the vision of a community food forest.
Town staff recently conducted the process of applying for a TD Green Streets tree grant of $15,000 but the request was rejected.
“The application was turned down,” confirmed town chief of administration Joe Fernandez. “We were not given a reason for it being turned down.”
Despite that setback, the town has already applied for two further tree grants including a new $10,000 grant from BC Hydro to go alongside the $15,000 edible tree grant from Tree Canada already discussed.
“The BC Hydro tree grant has gone to the next stage but I’m not sure where we stand on it (in terms of acceptance). It has been given tentative approval,” said Fernandez.
In another green move, Mayor Ross Forrest confirmed at the April 18th Sustainable Planning and Development Committee meeting at the town hall that the town has reduced water consumption by over 13 per cent for two years running.
“In 2012, we reduced our water consumption by 13.85 per cent and again in 2013 by 13.66 per cent,” said the mayor. “Those are really good numbers and shows we’re making progress.”
More details on the water numbers will come via the mayor’s current report for the month of March.
Notably, the next Sustainable Planning Committee meeting, to be held April 15 at 5:30 p.m., is likely to contain a discussion on climate change after Coun. Bob Day initiated his wishes to have those talks.
