Re: Opposition grows over park project (News, Aug. 26)
This is in response to the Sooke Lions Club proposal for John Phillips Memorial Park.
The first issue is the park is deemed to be underused by district council. The second issue is the Lions club raising funds to build its clubhouse by having businesses in the building. The third issue is the impact of these businesses on the residents around the park. The fourth issue is a plan for a permanent stage.
Council believes the park is underused; I can’t disagree with that. Right now, 40 households are backing directly onto the park. Sooke council fails to mention that 244 housing units will be built soon, backing directly on the park. This will make the park very busy without the Lions club or the municipality doing anything.
The Lions club plans to charge rent for a daycare centre, a 300-person facility for weddings and family parties, an industrial kitchen, a video conference centre, and a concession.
There are issues and flaws with the Lions rental plan. Every community needs more daycare. Don’t take up precious green space when there are lots of other options available. If there is a restaurant in the commercial part of the new apartments, it will make the Lions club concessions repetitive. The banquet hall will have loud indoor music – intoxicated party-goers in the park making lots of noise. This will affect all of the households in the park/residential area! What a feeble plan to raise money in a park/residential area.
There should be no permanent stage in the park – it’s just another eyesore.
The Lions Club is a wonderful group of people doing good things in Sooke, I applaud them. In this case, they are missing their original mission and spending their valuable time and effort in raising millions of dollars for this building and a parking lot. It appears that our misguided council is pushing real hard for this to happen.
Chris and Shirley Spencer
Sooke
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