UPDATE: Location change! The event is now being held at Claremont School, 4980 Wesley Rd. (Map here)
No RSVP necessary.
Dear Friends,
Please join me at my Community Office on Tuesday October 21st, from 7:00pm - 8:30pm for an Open House & Discussion about Maltby Lake.
Few are
aware of this extraordinary place, even though it is in Saanich and just ten kilometres from Victoria. There is no place closer to the provincial capital
that surpasses Maltby Lake in terms of ecological value or wild beauty.
The 12 acre lake is surrounded by private property and in rural Saanich, near Camosun College, Interurban College. Maltby lake is filled with clean fresh water, continually recharged by at least three separate underground springs. The lake is at the headwaters of Tod Creek, a major water course in Saanich vital to twenty-one kilometres of watercourse, 29 wetlands and five other lakes, including Prospect Lake.
Critical to
the lake’s health is 172 acres of almost completely undisturbed forest and
wetlands that surround it.
The forest is mature and wild, with Pacific Yews,
Dogwoods and large Gary Oaks. There is even a six hundred year old Douglas Fir, likely
the largest of its kind in Saanich!
And yet, all
of this is at risk. Various
development proposals have been put forward over the years. In 2007 one of the
owners gifted a 35% undivided interest in the land to The Land Conservancy of
BC. However, even this land is at risk as the TLC’s current precarious
financial position has led it to consider selling its ownership to the highest
bidder. Until the land has legal protection, such as a nature sanctuary status
like Swan Lake, we cannot be sure that the ecological integrity of Maltby Lake
will be protected.
Thankfully,
a share of the land is owned by two conservationists, Carmel and Woody
Thomson. They are fighting tirelessly to protect its ecological integrity. And they are not alone! Allies include Friends of the Tod Creek
Watershed, Habitat Acquisition Trust, Peninsula Streams Society, Prospect Lake
District Community Association, Prospect Lake Heritage Society, BC Lake
Stewardship Society, Highlands District Community Association, the Highland
Stewardship Foundation, and hundreds of local residents.
I am confident
if we work together this priceless ecosystem will be protected for the
environmental well-being of our region and for future generations.
An important step to that end is to increase public awareness of this precious place. For this reason I am
holding a public meeting on October 21st at my community office. The agenda is for the public to learn more about the environmental
value of Maltby Lake.
Guest speakers:
Mary Haig-Brown, Chair, Friends of Tod Creek Watershed
Ian Bruce, Executive Director, Peninsula Streams Society
William Shulba, Malby Lake Mapping Project; and
Adam Taylor, Executive Director, Habitat Acquistion Trust
