It was refreshing to see proactive democracy at a recent meeting regarding the future of the region’s landfill sites.
Campbell River’s dump is fast filling up and is due to close next year along with much smaller landfills on the West Coast of the Island.
That leaves Pigeon Lake near Cumberland as the only viable landfill in the region, and that too will fill up within the next five years.
The problem of where to put garbage is one every municipality faces along with the dilemma: Not in my backyard!
That’s the message from some residents in the north end of the city who don’t want the closed Elk Falls mill and its nearby ash dump turned into a new waste-to-energy facility and landfill.
There’s no official proposal to do just that, but the residents are understandably concerned after the regional district and our mayor asked for a consultant’s report on the feasibility of such a facility. And who can blame the residents?
The mill smoke and odour is finally gone, and now they face the possibility of a regional landfill?
Well, apparently Coun. Ziggy Stewart, who sits on the waste management committee, doesn’t approve of proactive democracy. He chided the Elk Falls opponents at the recent regional district meeting for spreading “misinformation” and said he wouldn’t be “pushed around.”
He’s right about the fact the committee should consider all its options, but his comments to residents were uncalled for.
Instead of thanking them for taking the time out of their busy days to present their concerns, he insulted them.
It’s that type of juvenile reaction to proactive democracy that should go straight into the dump.
– Campbell River Mirror