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OAK BAYNEWS Friday, January 17 2014
www.vicnews.com
Lost in the mail
‘Menace’ tree will stay put
Arnold Lim
Arnold Lim
News staff
News staff
Oak Bay councillor Michelle Kirby is worried. Canada Post’s recent proposal to implement a system using community mailboxes in place of doorto-door delivery in a municipality where approximately half the residents are over the age of 50, gives Kirby cause for concern. “Immediately I think of the number of seniors. We have an aging population and Oak Bay is ahead of the curve with an aging demographic,” she said. “(Door-to-door delivery) serves more than one purpose. A person stops by the house everyday checking in on you. You also don’t have to leave the house and get mail if you have accessibility issues, that is an added challenge they don’t need.” The Crown corporation will begin phasing out home delivery by the end of 2014 in an effort to address rising costs and declining mail volumes. It plans to move into a consultation process with the first affected municipalities later this year, said Jon Hamilton, Canada Post general communications manager.
Charles Simpson says he loves trees, just not the one in his neighbour’s yard. The Leyland Cypress pushing over the fence of his Oak Bay home has grown so big and so fast, he says it blocks rain going into parts of his lawn and the view he once enjoyed is no longer there. “When we came into our house 18 years ago we could see the neighbour’s house on Anderson Hill,” he said. “(Now) we can’t even see Anderson Hill at all because of this tree. … It is a menace.” The retired neurologist said he and his neighbour made a formal request through Oak Bay council to “Neighbour(s) remove the non-native Leyland Cypress want to take it from the property down but the but the wording of council wouldn’t the current bylaw does not allow it, or let us.” even give Oak Bay - Charles Simpson Parks and Recreation staff the flexibility to review the requests for removal, even when warranted. So Simpson followed up with a request to have the non-native species removed from the protected list. “It is a great tree, but not suited to an urban environment. It grows so fast and so big, it causes so many urban problems,” Simpson said. “My neighbours, myself and the other adjacent neighbour want to take it down but the council wouldn’t let us.” The bylaw protecting the tree, No. 4236 A, was implemented to protect the urban tree canopy but Oak Bay councillor Tara Ney said, never meant to be an all encompassing bylaw that solved all issues in the surrounding urban trees. “The recent Parks and Rec annual report shows that we need to drastically improve the protection and replacement of trees on both private and public lands. Trees are the lungs of our community,” she said. Arnold Lim/News staff
Charles Simpson hopes to have his neighbour's Leyland Cypress tree removed but the non-native species is protected by Oak Bay’s tree protection bylaw.
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