Neighbourhood Plan Update

Design Consultants Tackling Nicol Street Divide

Nicol Street, also known as Highway 1, divides the South End, contributes to some of our social ills, and is a big issue in Neighbourhood planning.

This from Chris Sholberg:

We have also just hired an urban design consultant: Ramsay Worden Architects Ltd. in association with a second firm called Urban Forum Associates (both very experienced outfits out of Vancouver).   They will help us with both the south End Neighbourhood Plan and the Newcastle/Brechin Hill Neighbourhood Plan and one of their primary tasks is to look at urban design possibilities for the major traffic corridors through each neighbourhood (Nicol Street being one of them).

Our first staff meeting with them will be Sept 17 after which we will be giving them an orientation tour of both neighbourhoods.

First Consultation:You can still provide feedback until Oct 23

The first public consultation was held on on October 6 at Bayview School.  This comment from Chris:

Based on the sign in list we had over 120 persons attend and in this line of business that is a great turnout.  [Comment sheets can be ] submitted by the Oct. 23 deadline.  For your reference, we have the on-line version of the comment sheet posted at our neighbourhood plan webpage: http://www.nanaimo.ca/EN/main/departments/Community-Planning/4299/SouthendCommunityPlan.html.

Please encourage anyone you know to fill out the survey who hasn’t already done so.

For the Neighbourhood Planning page on the city website , click here or contact the City of Nanaimo Community Planning Department, Phone 250-755-4472 or 250-755-4483.

~ Thanks to Chris Sholberg, Heritage and Community Planner

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What’s Up at SECA?

September meeting Full (and Full)

The agenda at our September meeting was perhaps one of the fullest…the combination of catching up from the summer and gearing up for fall.

The room was full too, with about 35 attendees. Thanks to MLA Doug Routley for racing up from Victoria to attend, to Councillor Fred Pattje for his wisdom and insight, and to RCMP Corporal Dave Laberge, whose updates are always interesting and appreciated.

September guests were Rob Lawrance, Environmental Planner, City of Nanaimo; and Pam Shaw – Chase River Estuary Committee.

Pam’s enthusiasm for the estuary was infectious and her stories were really great – did you know that fish weirs have been discovered in the estuary, some believed to be up to 1,000 years old?

Treasurer Sandra’s T shirt pitch to MLA

Doug Routley: “no GST. No PST. No HST. No SH-T!”

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What’s up in the Neighbourhood?

Balmoral Good Neighbour Committee Holds its First Meeting

The initial meeting was held Sept 24.  The group includes:

• Christina Martens from CMHA
• Bob Simpson, Vice President, CMHA
• John Horn from the City (Social Planner);
• George Simich, Tenant rep from the Balmoral;
• Alison Milward from VIHA;
• Jacquie Howardson, Chair of the Neighbours of Nob Hill
• Ed Chan, Mike Baird, Pam James from the South End Community Association

The following actions have been agreed to:

1. Monthly Good Neighbour Committee meetings for the foreseeable near future.
2. The creation of a conflict resolution process to address neighbourhood concerns
3. The creation of a FAQ sheet about the Balmoral to be distributed door to door to the Balm oral’s immediate neighbours

Do you have specific questions you want to offer for the FAQ sheet?  We’ll pick the ones that hold the greatest interest.  Send any of your questions to Ed Chan.

Fernville      [at]   telus.      net.    Or leave them in the comment box here by clicking the heading.  We’ll pass them along.

~ thanks to Ed Chan for the update

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Deverill Park Mural Project

The Deverill Square Park Murals have begun!!! If you haven’t already noticed take a look in the park you’ll see the beginnings of the mural project (the building by the playground) which is being designed & painted by neigborhood artist Yvonne Vander Kooi. She has been given the green light by the city and is hoping to complete all 4 walls in the next month or so (weather permitting and wishful thinkng)!

The pictures shown here indicate her process and are parts of the overall maquette(design). The themes of the mural are sky, land & sea which will wrap around the building. The images are stylized and colourful in design in the hopes of lending itself to playful & lively imagery becoming to a play park.

Yvonne welcomes visitors and questions – come see her at the wall anytime or email kooi  [at]    telus.net. Special thanks to Kirsty McDonald and the city for supporting this creative venture.

If anyone is interested in her work you can take a look at her listing on http://www.gobc.ca/nanaimo-travel/bird-studios-yvonne-vander-kooi_3465

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This and That

Suite For rent – $450

Recently updated, pet friendly one bedroom ground floor in owner-occupied home. Separate entrance, large living room, small bedroom, washroom with shower, full-size fridge, stove and w/dryer, small storage room-pantry. N/S (can smoke outside); Utilities approximately $100/month, including cable and internet. On bus route. References required. (Rent/utilities negotiable for right tenant.)  E-mail:

vlennox             [at]              pacificcoast.net

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Welcome to Christine Buckingham, the new Manager at MacDonalds.  We look forward to meeting you, Christine…!

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What’s Coming Up?

Sunday Morning Soccer

The FIRST and LAST Sundays of the month.

So Sunday October 4.

10:00 am @ Deverill Park

Everyone welcome!  You don’t need to be talented…just enthusiastic……..!  Call Ed at 753.1584 for more info.

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Neighbourhood Plan Open House Tuesday Oct 6

Come and find out more about the Neighbourhood Plan for our South End community! An introductory Open House will provide residents with information on the plan process, an opportunity to ask questions and offer input into the neighbourhood plan.

The Open House will be held at the Bayview School, 140 View St., from 4:00 to 8:00 PM Tuesday October 6th.

Invitation have been distributed to every household in the South End.  If you are on a “no junk mail” list, you will NOT have received one.

In that case, click here to see the invitation.

For the Neighbourhood Planning page on the city website , click here or contact the City of Nanaimo Community Planning Department, Phone 250-755-4472 or 250-755-4483.

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NEXT SECA Meeting

Wednesday  October 7 @  7 PM

Princess Royal Centre

Irwin at Farquhar

Mark off these dates on your calendar so you don’t miss any meetings!

• Wed Nov 4
• Wed Dec 2 (AGM)
• Wed Jan 6, 2010

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Mini-Litter Pickup – Saturday October 10

Think of it as a way to burn advance calories before digging into the Thanksgiving feed-o-rama.

We’ll meet at McDonald’s any time after 8:30.  Then at 9:30, we’ll fan out and start collecting for about 30 minutes.

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Lynne Bowen Speaks at

FRIENDS OF MORDEN MINE AGM

Thursday October 15, 7:00 pm

Join multi-award winning author Lynne Bowen at our 7^th AGM for her talk:

“Real Skookum Guys: the Volatile History of Italians in Vancouver Island Coal Mines”

Lynne Bowen, one of Vancouver Island’s best known author historians, has written five books: three on Island coal mining history. Her new work on B.C.’s Italian immigrants will be out in Spring 2011.

To access Cedar Heritage Centre, 1644 MacMillan Road, turn east from the Island Highway onto Cedar Road, drive 4 km to MacMillan then north 300 metres.

Members and non- members welcome.

Further information: 250-714-0377 or cchristo [at]     shaw.ca

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Wellington Action Group wins "Dirty Gertie"

Plant Out at Maffeo Sutton Park  Sat Oct 17 from 1 to 4 PM

Perhaps you remember when the city held a plant-out in June, asking the neighbourhood associations to come and help?  We cheekily challenged the rest of the city to beat the South End in a) numbers and b) sheer outputm offering an Art Bin to the #2 team.  We had a blast, it was great fun….even though it was the hottest day of the year.

Now, they’re planning another event…this time to plant spring bulbs.  Chris Sholberg says:

We are currently sitting on about 26,000 spring bulbs (16,600 daffodils and 10,000 crocus).  We would like to propose another community plant-out event on Saturday, Oct. 17, 1-4 p.m. at Maffeo-Sutton Park to put these bulbs in the ground.  Would your neighbourhood association/group be willing to participate in this event?

We will provide the plants and City gardeners to provide oversight.  Volunteers with their own shovels, garden tools would be welcome.  Kids are welcome too.

We can’t let our reputation as the hardest workers in the city be tarnished!!  If you can join in, please call Douglas at 754-0677.  Or send us an e-mail:  southendcommunityassociation      [at]     gmail.com.

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Memorial Tree Planting for Gino Sedola  Sunday October 25

It’s been a year now since we lost our good friend and mentor, Gino  Sedola.  We’ll plant a tree in his honour on Sunday October 25 at 11 AM.  Following that, a pot luck lunch and some time for storytelling.

At the corner of Milton and Irwin Streets.

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SECA LUCKY Beer & Burger Friday Nov 13

Who says Friday the 13th is an unlucky day?  It just might be your luckiest one yet if you come to our Annual SECA Beer & Burger night On Friday Nov 13, starting at 6 PM at  the Newport Bar & Grill. (the old Jolly Miner).

For only $13, you’ll get a great homemade burger and nachos and maybe even a little dessert.

You might win the 50/50 Draw or get your early Christmas shopping done at the Silent Auction.

By the way, we’re looking for donations….stuff, services, or support.

Phone Moni (250 753 1188) or Sandra (250 753 1394) for donations and ticket sales.

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Cinderella Lane Looking Better and Better

Saturday Sept 26 was our second lane cleaning event for the infamous lane between Nicol and Haliburton…south of Milton and north of Farquhar).

We trimmed and cleaned, released our inner artists, and watched in amazement as Maggie Wouterloot’s newest mandala unfolded on the pavement.

Special thanks to Maggie, to Sandra and Mike for the great tunes, to John Cross for providing our painting canvases, and to Councillor Fred Pattje, for continuing to produce after being ribbed (albeit good-naturedly) about working on a Saturday.

Hey, she’s not quite pin-up material yet, but it’s “better than it was.”

To see for yourself, take a stroll down the lane one day, or click here to see photos!

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SECA presents message to School Board

How do you think the Board should decide about closing schools, renovating older buildings, and distributing resources?  How should they go about planning for the future? These are some of the questions that SD 68 must deal with, and they have decided to ask for community input.

Here is the presentation that Sydney Robertson made at their public forum on Sept 9.

My name is Sydney Robertson.   I’m a resident of the South End, and a Board member of the South End Community Association, which I’m representing tonight.

We’re a small neighbourhood which has experienced a school closing.  Princess Royal was a central part of our community.  Schools are more than education factories; they are social hubs.  They provide for playgrounds, gyms, meeting spaces, those magical and powerful parent networks, and are the point of contact for many resources to the entire community.  Closing a neighbourhood centre changes a neighbourhood.

Thankfully, in our case, the site continues to be well-used.  We still have community resources available in the building, and we still have playground equipment at the park.

We do understand the need for school closings, and we are not revisiting the closing of Princess Royal.  We just want your discussions to include some very serious thought about the impact a school closing will have not just on a school community, but on an entire community.

We’d also like to express our hope that defunct school properties like Princess Royal remain in public hands.   We’re currently forming our Neighbourhood Plan, which has us thinking beyond just the next few years and envisioning how our part of the city will change in the next few decades.   With the densification that we and City staff fully expect to see, land prices will certainly not go down, and retaining pockets of publicly-owned land only makes sense.  Princess Royal may never be re-opened as a school, but the land on which it sits is in the heart of our community, and should continue to be put to excellent public use.

The decisions you make about school facilities profoundly affect entire communities, and we`d like to see, as a guiding principle, that you will consider neighbourhood impact in your decision-making process.

Thank  you.

Do you agree with this?  If you do, please send a quick e-mail of support — you can even just cut and paste Sydney’s presentation and add a sentence saying something like “I agree with this presentation and support the idea of more community involvement in what happens to school properties.

But you have to hurry!  Send it off by WEDNESDAY, Sept 16  to

communityconsult  [at]   sd68.bc.ca

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