Dear editor,
Mary Smith’s letter (Record, Feb. 18) expresses some well-founded concern regarding our airport.
Mary asks some good questions concerning the airport’s future operations.
We all agree that a solution must be quickly found to resolve the stalemate between four property owners on Kye Bay Road and the airport and we believe airport CEO Fred Bigelow is doing everything he can to resolve a situation he did not ask for when he took over airport operations last year.
We also believe MP John Duncan is doing what he can to help resolve the situation, which is indeed holding our community and his constituency hostage.
If one drives down Kye Bay Road, the trees that have been topped where owners who have elected to co-operate with the airport and thus support their community are obvious.
The ones that remain untopped are the problem, although one wonders why, because they do not seem much higher than trees that have been topped. However, the approximately 10 feet that must be taken off the top of a few trees on four properties is the issue that is holding our community hostage.
It is interesting to note that the heron colony that was the reason originally cited by the four property owners in the area for leaving their trees untouched is no longer there. The herons departed when marauding eagles began attacking their nesting area. In fact the colony migrated elsewhere to a more favourable and safer nesting site quite some time ago. That being the case, one wonders what the four property owners who stand against their entire community are now citing as a reason to save their trees from having a few feet taken off the top.
It is unfortunate that our rule of law allows these four property owners to legally oppose the greater good for an entire community, but apparently they are exercising their rights within the law.
When I was a young person and an issue became apparent that was vital to the greater good of the community, property expropriation would have been demanded. Perhaps it is long past the time that this option should be put on the table.
Maureen Hunter,
Courtenay
