A zipline and tunnel are just two options under study for public access to Newcastle Island as a new vision is crafted for the provincial marine park.
Snuneymuxw First Nation and the City of Nanaimo are working on a plan for Newcastle to enhance access and opportunities for tourism and recreation, a recently released in-camera report shows.
The municipality has put $250,000 toward the project, spanning a subsidy for the SFN ferry service, an access study, concept and business plan. A memorandum of understanding between the two parties also shows the city will also provide financial assistance to the SFN for engagement and work on projects like Maffeo Sutton Park, 1 Port Drive and the foot ferry.
It’s the second attempt at a plan for Newcastle, also called Saysutshun, with the first completed last year by consultants for the City of Nanaimo, SFN and B.C. Parks, which manage the island together. Douglas White III, Snuneymuxw councillor, previously told the News Bulletin it missed the mark on resolving two of the most critical issues for the island: access and cultural opportunity.
The SFN has since taken on the ferry service to the island and reduced fares which White said is a short-term measure while a long-term resolution to access is being figured out.
“The old [business plan] missed the point,” he said. “We were able to use some of the information from it, but you know, craft a business plan that’s built around actually resolving the access issue and actually figuring out what we need to do on the island to improve the reality of the island.”
The work on a new vision involves concepts and 3-D visualization to create a vision for phased tourism and recreational facilities, such as an amphitheatre, Salish Sea cultural exhibit, restaurant and artisan market. An access study will determine the structural feasibility of a pedestrian crossing at two locations along the Newcastle channel with designs for a fixed overpass structure, swing bridge, cable car or zipline and a “non-glass” tunnel under consideration, according to a city report, which says the city and SFN want to increase public and tourism uses on the island while protecting the natural environment, cultural and heritage resources and creating a financially self-sustaining operation that provides regional tourism benefits.
White said most important is for the city and Snuneymuxw to get on the same page and create a shared, powerful vision about the island and what it means to the people of Nanaimo and it’s based on that idea of re-engagement between the city and the First Nation. He says there’s been tremendous progress in crafting a shared vision, which is close to being complete.
Mayor Bill McKay said the Snuneymuxw is actively working on a business plan and he’d support almost anything to make the place successful. He believes Newcastle is underutilized and under-enjoyed.
He also said there are all kinds of ideas out there on access and he’d like to see a zipline go from Georgia Park to the island and a gondola.
“There’s a myriad of ideas,” he said. “We’ve got the navigable waters act to consider, we’ve got the fact that it’s right in the middle of an airplane runway, so there’s a whole litany of things – there’s talk of potentially you could do a fixed link, it all depends on what is going to create the greatest benefit to the success of the park and having access to that park.”
Coun. Gord Fuller and Jipp Kipp, who are on the Protocol Advisory Working Group working on the project, were not available for comment.
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