The Big Pond RV‌ Park Is Not To Be. Let the Healing Begin.

• “I can’t even put into words how disgusted I am with this decision! I’m so sorry all of your hard work fell on “old” ears...”

• “This is terrible.. The money it could have brought in to Cape Breton...Some people could care less if their family and friends starve.”

• “People keep being idiots......can't stop stupid. Another economic blow to the Island. But hey, a couple residents are happy, I guess that is all that matters.”

• “Another nail in the coffin for the island. Soon it will be a cemetery in the ocean for the old people wanting to die here since there is no living to be had here.”

Yikes.

First a shoutout to all the fabulous old people in my life who are totally not sitting around wanting to die: Seniors should be celebrated in Cape Breton as it is their dedication to volunteerism and community that lies behind the successes of our rural communities.

There is something amiss here.

(I‌ instinctively crouch down as I‌ type this sentence to avoid the cyber rotten tomatoes that are sure to fly my way, a RV‌ park in Big Pond was not going to solve any of the serious problems on our island.)

Yes, in Cape Breton there are far too many children living in poverty. More people need solid well-paying jobs. We need better roads. Our population is shrinking. We don’t have enough doctors, and the ones we have are overworked.

And as a people we are advocating for the kind of fundamental changes that should mean that Cape Breton will receive the funding it requires for infrastructure that will make a difference in how we live.

But none of this has anything to do with a developer choosing an inappropriate site for a RV‌ park.

So why do some people think that it is somehow unfair that this RV‌ park will not be built in this spot?

Planning zones exist for good reasons. A‌ basic tenet of good planning is that large developments like this one are placed in locations where the people already living there can be reasonably protected from the adverse effects of the development.

It was determined that the people living in this area could not be reasonably protected by the adverse effects of the proposed development.

This should not be a controversial finding. Had the developer, who, granted, has no experience in building RV‌ parks, consulted with local people in the early stages of his planning, much confusion could have been avoided.

Also, had t‌he CBRM‌ planning department actually visited the properties that were vulnerable to the negative impacts of this development - again, early in the process, and applied standard planning practices, the community would likley not have been pulled through this stressful and strange process.

Let’s play a true and false game. (Aw, c'mon.) 

I‌t is my hope that this short game will reveal just a few of the odd things that happened as part of the story of the RV‌ that was not to be:

Here are five statements. Read them and note whether you believe each one to be true or false:

1. Local people lined up at the mics at the CBRM public meeting and Mr. Skidmore answered more than 75 questions about his proposal  . T/F

2. Policy 17 e of the CBRM‌ Municipal Planning Strategy tells Council what the rules are in a case like the proposed RV‌park for Big Pond. CBRM‌ planning did not provide a copy of the governing policy (17e of the Municipal Planning Strategy)‌ to‌ Council at any time before the vote.T/F

3. CBRM‌ Planning did not visit the properties that were most vulnerable to the adverse effects of this development. T/F

4. Mr. Skidmore spent 3 hours on the stand at the UARB‌ hearing (which lasted 5 days)  on whether his proposed develoment met the standards set out by the CBRM‌ Planning Strategy, trying to explain how residents could be reasonably protected from his development. T/F

5. CBRM‌ planning was, as it is required to be, unbiased in its evaluation of whether Mr. Skidmore’s chosen site was suitable for his proposed development. T/F

6. As the Bras d’Or Lake is a UNESCO‌ Biosphere Reserve, one of 18 in Canada, CBRM‌ Council reviewed the recommendations from UNESCO regarding sustainable development. T/F

1. False CBRM‌ did not allow anyone to ask a question to Mr. Skidmore at the public meeting.

2. True. Planning rewrote the text of Policy 17 e and included it in the report that Council was review before voting. The re-write did not tell Council that they had to vote against the proposal if reasonable protection against the development’s adverse effects could not be provided to neighbours.

3. True. As the Utility and Review Board put it: “The Board notes that neither the planners, nor any Council members,
accepted the Appellants’ invitation to view the proposed development site from the
Sutherland and Moffatt properties, at the bottom of the barachois. If they had taken a
view from this vantage point, they would have observed the sloping topography above
(where the campground is proposed to be located), relative to these residential properties
below.”

4. False . Mr. Skidmore refused the opportunity to speak during the 5 day hearing.

5. False. In the first email CBRM planning wrote to Mr.Skidmore around the Big Pond RV‌ park idea, the we people in rural Cape Breton tend to fear the “unknown” and “come-from-aways.”

6. False. The CBRM‌ planning department told Council that the environment (yes, the whole thing)‌ is outside their jurisdiction. (It isn’t.)

This planning process was a fiasco. 

Mr. Skidmore has said that he is now:‌ “…working with another municipality and our partners in the Cape Breton area who are just as excited as we are to bring you this experience in a beautiful new destination.”

Let us hope that Mr. Skidmore and his partners consult widely as they consider a new space for his planned project - and seriously considers its environmental and societal impact.

And surely CBRM‌ Council should hold a review of the planning process attached to this proposed development. Less drama. More planning. 

If you want to learn more about why there will be no RV‌ park in Big Pond, please read the UARB‌ ruling.

And if you want to learn more about the beautiful Bras d’Or Lake Bisosphere Reserve, go here.