Campaign Page

Our Goals
What we aim to achieve with our campaign...

Our Membership
Who we are and what we represent...

Our Voice
Messages we have sent to decision-makers...

Your Correspondence
Letters of support from you...




REASONS TO OPPOSE

Here's the top ten reasons why we believe PPA’s proposal for Wood Bay should be opposed (based on information publicly communciated by PPA to date):

10. The proposed site in Wood
      Bay is not zoned for industrial
      use and will require changes to
      the Official Community Plan.
  9. The Islands Trust controls
      adjacent marine property to the
      site and its current regulations
      prevent industrial activity within
      300m.
  8. Wood Bay contains eelgrass
      which is important for the
      breeding and survival of the
      herring population in Malaspina
      Strait.
  7. The proposed mines could
      damage the local watersheds
      and thus could impair the
      quality of the water supply. 
  6. Local residents are concerned
      the proposed load-out may
      have significant visual, noise
      and lighting impact in the
      vacinity of Wood Bay.
  5. There are concerns the
      proposed facility would be a
      considerable hazard for pollution
      and to marine navigation in
      lower Malaspina Strait.
  4. The proposal appears to create
      only limited local employment.
  3. The proposed conveyor route
      may run through the habitat of
      endangered species, such as
      the Marbled Murrelet.
  2. Tourism is currently more
      important to the local economy
      than mining and more in keeping
      with a sustainable future for the
      region.
  1. And the number one reason is…
      the majority of locals simply
      don’t want it, as they have
      indicated in recent polls and
      petitions, including the
      collective voice of the Sechelt
      Indian Band.

Apparently, the provincial government may be able to ignore ALL of these reasons using existing legislation that could override local interests. Be sure to let everyone know – including your provincial MLA and the BC Minister of State for Mining – how thoroughly unacceptable such action would be. This is our Sunshine Coast and we, the people who actually live here, want to determine its future.


Our Goals

We are dedicated to rescuing the pristine cove of Wood Bay on the spectacular Sunshine Coast of British Columbia from industrial development.

Wood Bay is the target of Pan Pacific Aggregates Ltd. (PPA), an aggregate ore mining company incorporated in B.C. and headquartered in the UK that wants to capitalize on a booming market for construction materials in California and the Pacific Rim.

PPA wants to inject a deepwater ship loading facility into Wood Bay and stretch a dock large enough to accommodate Panamax freighters 150 to 250 metres into Malaspina Strait, a boater’s paradise and gateway to world-renowned Desolation Sound.

A 10-kilometer conveyor belt would connect the dock to an open pit gravel mine that PPA proposes for a watershed area that includes wetlands in the Caren Range, Canada’s oldest recorded forest. Wood Bay and the surrounding neighbourhoods of Halfmoon Bay, Secret Cove and Middlepoint are populated by thousands of residents and countless birds, fish and animals.

The Sunshine Coast is an enchanting getaway for nearly a million visitors annually, nearly half of who come from outside British Columbia, and home to 30,000 citizens. SOSC believes that PPA’s development of Wood Bay is socially, environmentally and economically unconscionable and only serves their corporate agenda.

We intend to fight their proposal in the name of the residents, visitors, citizens and inheritors of Wood Bay and the surrounding communities, and invite you to help us… deep six PPA’s deepwater dock and save Wood Bay!





Our Membership
Who we are and what we represent...

Save Our Sunshine Coast (SOSC) is a citizen's group based in Halfmoon Bay, led by an executive committee.  We are a non-profit organization that accepts members who are interested in furthering our goals.  There is no membership fee.  Members are added to the mailing list of our electronic update.  See "Contact Us" page to join us. 

We are glad to accept financial donations mailed to our address. (Any funds remaining upon our completion will be donated to local charity.)

We also see volunteers to assist us in our work.





Our Voice
Messages we have sent to decision-makers...

Letter to London Stock Exchange and reply

Letter to Provincial Officer re Mines Act

Letter to John Rees urging action against PPA

Letter supporting SCRD's decision re Mason Road

Letter to Tim Adams requesting hydrology study





Your Correspondence
Letters of support from you... 

From Michael Maser, local geologist

From Richard Tomkies, Wood Bay resident

Examples from Coast Reporter (May 2006)

From Mike Carson, local resident

From Chris Stewart, local resident

Dear Editor,

…we could have worked and retired anywhere in the world. We have lived in Banff, the Highlands of Scotland and Switzerland, among other places. We chose Pender Harbour because: it is a beautiful place that makes your heart sing most days; it has a wonderful sense of community; it is a privilege to share this place with the wildlife that you see every day, and it has great access to high speed data communications and to one of the world’s most beautiful cities.

We are not alone. We lead the phalanx of the Baby Boom. As an ex-international economic development specialist, I know that many Boomers want similar things, and have considerable money to spend in achieving them. At the risk of appearing presumptuous, let me forecast what the real future of Pender Harbour holds. Over the next two decades, our economy will be increasingly dominated by four growing influences:

One, the retiring community, also known as the grey loonie. Sorry guys, we are going to get a lot more numerous before we start declining. We’ll need and pay for the services that comfortable retirement involves and create jobs in the process.

Two, the tourist, whom we currently serve very badly. Eco-tourism, activity tourism, all the growth areas, you mention it, we are well positioned but do them poorly. For instance, Pender Harbour could perhaps be a very significant bareboat chartering centre, with everything that means to our economy and jobs.

Thirdly, the overspill from the Vancouver economic boom, of which we haven’t seen anything yet. As China goes, so does Vancouver. This will mean more high-price weekenders and well-heeled commuters. I suggest that we double-tax weekenders to support our community services. It won’t deter them in my vision of Pender Harbour.

Fourthly, the knowledge worker, young and not-so-young.... The internet geek and software engineer can work anywhere, as any student of the well-known Seattle-based Company will tell you. We are blessed with high-speed internet and cable TV. If we encourage and attract knowledge-based businesses that depend on skilled people who seek beautiful environments and can work anywhere, and educate our young people so that they can easily enter this industry, then Pender Harbour can truly become something special in terms of our young people’s prospects, and of ours.

A more exciting future for Pender Harbour young folk than working in a quarry, surely? A worthwhile aspirational vision for the rest of us to work towards? I would suggest it is. With such potential riches, Pender Harbour does not need quarries. In fact, they are the last things we need, along with the jobs they bring.

David and Linda Pearson