To the editor:
I would like to weigh in on the debate about the proposed land exchange on Bridge Lake.
With all due respect to a previous letter writer, who portrayed developers as benevolent "do gooders," please wake up and smell the coffee.
There is only one real motivation for property developers and that is to make a profit, and if this land exchange goes through, the profits made by Julian Kenney and his partners will be huge.
The difference between this type of development and the usual ones whereby a developer purchases a piece of privately owned property to develop is vast.
This land is publicly owned; this land belongs to the taxpayers of British Columbia; this is our land. It is one of the few pieces of Crown land left around Bridge Lake, and it is prime waterfront land with easy access to Highway 24.
The waterfront portion of this land was designated in 1945 as a reserve “Used for the Recreation and Enjoyment of the Public” (UREP). Not only are we losing a piece of our heritage, but also we are losing a piece designated for our recreational use and enjoyment.
If this land exchange goes through, it sets a very dangerous precedent. Public land should not be traded or sold so a developer can make a profit.
Crown land with the designation of UREP should have been sacrosanct.
If developers make bad business decisions, that's their problem, as it is part of doing business. It is not the responsibility of the taxpayers of B.C. to bail them out.
Pamela Canty
Bridge Lake