One Cadboro Bay neighbourhood was stunned, earlier this year, when a number of healthy Garry Oaks were posted for tree removal. Residents sprang into action to try to dissuade council from moving ahead. They were told the decision had already been made. Further, they were told there had been many consultations and that the neighbourhood had approved the plans.

One volunteer took a petition to the immediate neighbourhood, and found almost no support for the plan. She and the Cadboro Bay Residents’ Association wrote the following letter to the District of Saanich, requesting a better process of informing and involving residents about potential tree removals.

To: Mayor Haynes and Council

Re: Request that Local Residents’ Associations, Including the Cadboro Bay Residents Association, Be Consulted Prior to Tree Removal on Public Property in the District of Saanich

We, the Board of Directors of the Cadboro Bay Residents Association, are writing to request that in future our local association, as well as other local residents’ associations in the District of Saanich, be consulted prior to tree removal on public property in the municipality.

The impetus for our request is that in February of this year, Saanich chopped down several mature Garry Oak trees on Finnerty Road, which borders Cadboro Bay and Gordon Head. This action was done in spite of our letter to you in February, in which we asked that the plan for these removals be put on hold while alternative designs could be sought for the street that would not require the removal of the trees.

We were never consulted regarding the plan to remove these trees. Had we been, we would have worked with your Engineering Branch to find ways to save the trees in question, so that, hopefully, the infrastructure and improvement plans for the road could proceed without the trees being sacrificed. Tree removal notices had been placed on the six Finnerty Road Garry Oaks, but by the time they did appear, it was already too late: Saanich Engineering had decided they were to be removed, and nothing was going to stop them from cutting them down- not even the interventions of some of our residents, who canvassed people living in the immediate vicinity of the trees. It also bears mentioning that virtually none of the residents living in the immediate vicinity of the trees who our members approached even knew that the trees were scheduled to be removed, until the tree removal notices were posted. In many cases, they weren’t even aware of the plans AFTER the notices appeared. There had been a little warning to that effect in the bottom right hand corner on the Finnerty Display Board, but few people seem to have noticed this. Saanich Engineering made the argument to three of our residents who met with them in the hope of saving the trees that ten thousand people had participated in the consultations related to the Active Transportation Policy, which apparently includes the Finnerty upgrades. However, it is doubtful that many of these people were aware that the Finnerty upgrades included plans to cut down the Garry Oaks and several other trees.

As you know, our neighbourhood association, as well as all the other local associations in Saanich, is consulted before development applications and/or variances come to Council for their consideration. We would like to have the same sort of opportunity to comment on plans that the District itself has for tree removal, as decisions of this nature can affect both residents in the immediate vicinity as well as the character of the neighbourhood in general.

In our view, a local neighbourhood consultation process for tree removal on public property would be a very useful addition to Saanich’s Tree Protection Bylaw, which is currently under review by staff and Council. Such a process should also form part of Saanich’s Urban Forest Strategy, as well as the Biodiversity Strategy which is currently being developed.

In short, we trust that lessons have been learned from the recent Finnerty Road Garry Oak tree removal. The trees are gone, and they can never really be replaced. However, it is our hope that something can be learned from their removal, and that in future, protected trees, that are part of the urban canopy, can be protected. Had these Garry Oaks been on private as opposed to public land, they would probably be still standing.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

Eric Dahli, Chair
Cadboro Bay Residents Association