If you happen to be connected with your community members on the big, bad world of Facebook, you likely saw my posting this week on the “Bowen Island Everything Else” page. I suggested that, in a bid to save our community 7 million odd dollars, we could scrap the current community centre project and purchase a 6,000 square foot mansion that happens walking distance from the Cove, and is up for sale for $3 million.
I wouldn’t say I made this post in jest, however, I did it knowing that such ideas just don’t fly in the world we live in. There are all kinds of rules, codes and administrative structures that get in the way.
These rules and regulation are not a bad thing. As many islanders have pointed out, they protect us from ourselves and from developing away our water resources, for example. The city of Houston, Texas, scrapped these rules altogether - this summer citizens suffered for that decision.
However, from another perspective we can all see the ways that rules, regulation and bureaucracy limit creative thinking and the problem solving required to move forward in a practical way as a community.
Countless people have asked me why the Orchard Cottages are not used for housing, or at least as part of Snug Cove’s retail sector. In a practical world, instead of a bureaucratic one, they would be, and the “parks” department of the city of Vancouver would work in harmony to meet the City’s other needs. Needs like housing, for example.
Send me your thoughts: editor@bowenislandundercurrent.com
