At the June 21 regular board meeting of the regional district directors, issues surrounding the KVR lands in Lower Kaleden made the agenda once again.
Concerns over a variance application for an Alder Avenue residence, and the recent removal of trees on the privately owned siding property had Area “D” Director Tom Siddon endeavouring to represent his Kaleden constituents who were upset by the activity.
Fortunately for Mr. Siddon, the furore over what is happening on the Lower Kaleden waterfront is not his responsibility; this is a mess he inherited with the directorship last fall.
Lately there have been undertones of blame (present at the June 21 meeting as well) for the waterfront problem, pointing a finger at the private landowner holding title to the siding lands that are key to through passage of the KVR trail.
The truth of the matter is, there is lots of blame to go around. Why pick on any one person or organization?
The issue has been festering since the last train pounded through Kaleden in 1989, and the destiny of the railway line was sealed.
Twenty-three years of successive local and provincial governments, as well as local concerned residents failed to put the safeguards in place in Kaleden that would have secured through title for a trail.
Just prior to the private purchase of the railway siding in 2010, the previous regional district board discussed the provision of a right of way across the property in a committee session - but nothing was ever done.
Newsletter articles prior to 1999 explained the situation to residents, but nothing was ever done.
As the emotionally charged debate continues, we hope residents will keep these facts in mind - because it appears that at this stage of the process, playing the blame game is doing nothing to move the process forward.