Shame on Sooke Council

saltydawg

saltydawg

Well-Known Member
Hey Brothers


I have trolled many a mile........
I have set many a hook........
I have spent many a sports fisherman $$$$$
But one thing mystafies me. ????
Why do we not have a municial boat launch in sooke B/C.??

I have watched the demiss of many Sooke boart launches.
I have listened to the impending demiss of Sunny Shores
I have hoped for a Butler Bros site.
I launch at Renfrew, Tofino, Ucluelet,Sidney, Oak bay, Campbell River,Mll Bay, Nanaimo.
All these towns have municipal sites.
Wht does not Sooke??
I have lambasted many a local Sooke taxpayer to be a voice."support a muncipal boat launch"
What the frick is going on??

Come on boys make some noise.

Lets not them say of us
"too little too late"
 
There were bumper stickers around Sooke not too long ago "Who do we have to bribe to a get a boat launch in Sooke?" ;)

That was when Sooke Harbour Marina shut down and Jock's not yet in place. At that time, if Sunny Shores closed, there'd be nothing. Now, if you want to put your boat in the water there's two local businesses that will allow you to do so for a small fee, and a third if you have very deep pockets. Plus 2 more in East Sooke. So...the municipal response might well be "why should the government step in to provide this service when the market is providing it already?"

There were some studies about this last fall, I think, and from what I remember the only viable sites were Whiffin Spit parking lot (not likely) and Butler Bros log sort (now not going to happen). So where would this go? You'd have to buy a whole lot of waterfront land and have a really big parking lot...Sooke Council is not likely too keen on raising taxes a whole bunch to pay for it. It's not like there's some great war chest sitting around waiting to be spent.

But looking bigger picture, that would be a MAJOR tourism benefit, with positive spin-offs all around. Visiting Sidney in summer, it is incredible how much boat traffic goes through that launch. As Sooke tries to reinvent itself as a seaside tourism focused community, this missing element is going to become more and more obvious.

I'm all for it...but the how's, when's, and where's are mind-boggling.

My suggestion: visit Sooke Council meeting and make your displeasure known!
 
Guys-- while we do have a municipal marina/ramp in Comox, they have been upping the fees to launch and park every year now for a while. Its a better situation than you have in Sooke, but we are being gouged. Thanks goodness for the Union Bay mud ramp which is half the price of the municipal one.
What is comes dowm to is that the councillors just dont give a damn about fishing and boating. They just dont understand how much money we generate for the community. Last month I spent 3 weeks in New Zealand (fished both the salt and the fresh) and it was a revelation that EVERY little burg on the water that I visited had a launch site. Almost all were free too.
The local politicos need educating... Like the idea of a delegation to council too. Just keep it polite and schmoose the staff too. Thats were things start to happen.

Intruder2-2.jpg


20ft Alumaweld Intruder
 
Thinking about it more...pretend to be Councillor, in charge of the budget. How much property tax revenue comes in each year from a marina with boat ramp? Compare that to how much comes in from a free public boat ramp?

I know it has huge economic gains in the big picture, but to a cash strapped Council, if there's market-based providers already, it'd be a tough sell.

I was in Victoria last Spring, and launched at Cattle Point for the first time...blown away by a FREE public boat ramp on the waterfront of some of the most expensive real estate in Canada. Pretty cool. Of course, that land was probably donated 100 years ago, back when there was lots of it around. Doh.
 
During summer months you have to troll with 40 other boats .... build more facilities and you will troll with 120 boats. Now thats something to picture at Possesion Pt.
Just sayin'
cheers

JUST FISHEN'
 
ack...when you put it that way, let's mine the harbour!

[just slightly north of whiffin spit, to leave me room to get through]

[:p]
 
quote:Originally posted by Seabass

DOS has purchased the land next to Jock's for Public ramp, that is Viny's place.
Click to expand...

That's good news. Got a link by any chance?

Sooke has a long-term plan to have more focus across entire waterfront, with walkway and commercial use I believe. I wonder if this purchase is for boat ramp, or for this kind of development? Would be great if it was for a public ramp.
 
I was on the other side of the province last week. Stopped at an Info booth, p/u a Sooke to Pt Renfrew 'visitor guide'. Nowhere in the useless piece of crap is there mention of a boat ramp. Private or otherwise. WTF?!
SAD, SAD, SAD...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top