When I first heard that an application had been made to Health Canada by William MacLean on behalf of a company called Wildflower Marijuana Inc.to put a so called medical marijuana grow-op in our community at the end of Paradise Place I drove down to see the 125-acre parcel of land chosen at the end of Paradise Place.
A more beautiful and idyllically country setting would be hard to find anywhere. Right next door is a kid's bible camp and retreat center. The peaceful scene of horses grazing on grass in this picturesque country pastureland could be replaced with contrastingly ugly fencing, barbed wire and glaring lights at night. I could not put the two pictures together. It was unthinkable.
Rivers Edge Community on beautiful Vancouver Island near Parksville is one of a kind. The hard working residents have invested substantially in not only quality homes but a certain lifestyle, and are greatly concerned on how this proposal would impact their community. This proposal is as unseemly as having an autowrecker as your next door neighbour. Possible drinking water pollution; close proximity to a Community Residential Aquifier and the Englishman River; marijuana odors; increased traffic on a community road not designed for commercial traffic; and security concerns are only a few of the possible problems.
Wildflower cannot come up with a single benefit of this project for our community.
A couple of well attended meetings by irate residents, a petition with more than 300 signatures and backing for the residents by MP James Lunney, RDN Chair Joe Stanhope and former MP Randy White are just the beginning in this battle.
It is difficult to imagine a more unseemly proposal as that put forth by Wildflower. To push through a project on the pretense of "medical" application when the long term objective is really commercial profit is more than being a bad neighbour. It is the epitome of selfishness and greed. The rosy picture that Wildflower tries to paint is sheer fantasy and must not be allowed to proceed.
