20 years ago in the Undercurrent
Bowen Historians held their second annual pie contest. Judges included Bob Gillingham, Bert Davies, Lynn Piper and Iris Mather. Winners in the savory department included Lyn Edwards for her steak and kidney pie and Rose Mary Shatwell for her pork, apricot and chestnut pie. Winners in the fruit category included Nan Massender for her French apple pie, Nadine Oshaway for her apple pie and Corinne Hays for her apple raisin rum pie.
10 years ago in the Undercurrent
The Undercurrent reported on a Cowan Pt. logging dispute. Accusations, brought forth by landowners, Hamish Malkin, John Molson and members of the Johnstone family were that Cowan Point Properties, owned by Wolfgang Duntz, had been illegally logging in environmentally sensitive areas and on private lands. Duntz admitted that errors had been made but that steps were being taken to rectify these errors. Duntz took issue with the way the allegations had been handled saying he felt like he was in court and the appropriate process had not been followed. He suggested that the municipal process for dealing with these kinds of allegations was flawed.
5 years ago in the Undercurrent
On April 5, the Municipality hosted an information meeting regarding the Cape Roger Curtis Neighourhood Plan. About 200 islanders attended the seven-hour meeting. Municipal planner Jason Smith explained the the CRC owners had put forth the proposed Neighbourhood Plan (NP) but were also asking to keep a previous development application active in order to “protect their interest.”
The CRCNP was then introduced by Paul Fenske of Ekistics who had been retained by the owners of CRC to come up with the plan which incorporated input of the community and a ‘full slate of professionals”. In the afternoon the community was given a chance to speak and to choose from a list of 5 options for the CRC lands. Stress was placed on how the NP should be considered in view of the whole island, however others suggested that it was a CRC focused plan that did not take into consideration the whole island. Some more senior and long time residents expressed dismay that trees would be knocked down to make way for a facility for them to live in. By the end of the day, it was noted that the overall tone of the meeting had been passionate yet respectful. Many remarked that the arguments for both sides were similar and that this platform will hopefully allow a move forward. As Bob Turner put it, “If we can deal well with our differences, we can grow as a community, we can become a bigger, better and more thoughtful community.”
