Climate change scepticism alive and well in Peachland

Climate scepticism common

Photo: Colin Dacre

Peachland

Sixty-nine of 257 Peachland residents who answered a survey about climate change don’t believe human-caused climate change is real.

The Peachland Climate Change Task Force surveyed the community about its views on climate change. Because of the small number of responses, the survey is not considered statistically valid, Coun. Rick Ingram told council on Tuesday. Sixty-three responses from outside Peachland were not counted.

“Our takeaway from the survey is that there is strong support for both personal and district actions to both help reduce our climate pollution and prepare for the impacts of climate change,” the task force said in a written introduction to the results.

Asked whether Peachland residents should take their own action to reduce climate pollution, 135 respondents agreed or strongly agreed with 85 opposed.

Asked what actions they were willing to take, 170 answered recycling and composting, 136 said they’d support local natural-area rehabilitation and 133 were willing to switch to energy-efficient appliances and LED light bulbs.

The vote was close on whether the municipality should act to reduce climate change with 123 saying yes and 105 against the idea.

But more respondents supported specific ideas with 145 saying Peachland should enhance recycling and compost programs, 143 saying streetlights should be replaced with LED bulbs, and 139 supporting expansion of green spaces and more tree planting.

A total of 140 respondents said they should prepare for the effects of climate change at home. Eighty-two said they shouldn’t. FireSmarting properties and making evacuation plans were the top actions residents said they could take.

Next steps in the process are focus group discussions in May and an open house in June, Coun. Rick Ingram said.

Photo: District of Peachland

Results of a survey completed in Peachland.

Crews dealing with gas leak downtown Peachland

Crews dealing with gas leak

Photo: District of Peachland

UPDATE 12:05 p.m.

FortisBC says a gas leak in Peachland was caused by "external party damage.”

“Crews are onsite making the necessary repairs. We anticipate two customer outages as a result but don’t yet have a time on when repairs will be complete,” said a FortisBC spokesperson.

FortisBC says April is safe digging month. The public is reminded to always contact BC 1 Call before digging to gather information on the location of buried gas lines and other utilities.

ORIGINAL 11:15 a.m.

Firefighters and crews with FortisBC are dealing with a gas leak between 5th and 6th Street in downtown Peachland.

A caller to Castanet’s newsroom says drivers are being directed away from the area.

“Motorists may experience traffic disruptions in the area and on Beach Avenue due to the emergency incident,” said the municipality on social media.

The leak is happening in the area of a construction site for a seniors housing development.

The public is asked to avoid the area if possible.

Peachland mayor, councillor lobbies province for sewer funding

Lobbying for sewer funding

Photo: District of Peachland

Coun. David Collins (left) and Peachland mayor Patrick Van Minsel (right) meeting with Infrastructure Minister Bowinn Ma.

Eight provincial cabinet ministers got an earful about Peachland issues when Mayor Patrick Van Minsel and Coun. David Collins visited the legislature last week.

The two council members’ top priority was to push for provincial funding to expand the sewer system.

While several ministers supported Peachland’s bid for extra funding, they weren’t the ones who can open up the purse strings. A cabinet minister who might have some influence there is housing and municipal affairs minister Ravi Kahlon, who Van Minsel will meet with on April 15.

The mayor plans to present a full written report on the Victoria trip, but was waiting for more feedback from the province before finalizing it. He and Collins gave some verbal impressions on Tuesday.

“We started off with the ministry of environment,” said Collins. “The strategy there was to get a letter of endorsement to help with sewer funding. And to impress that it is not something that can be let go for 10, 20 more years — that it’s urgent, especially when you have septic fields failing."

“They satisfied that request,” said Collins. “They don’t have any funding themselves unless it’s an emergency environmental situation.”

The Peachlanders also met with Infrastructure Minister Bowinn Ma.

“That was not our ticket,” said Collins, “but she gave us a name on the premier’s staff to connect with as far as sewer funding goes.”

“Minister of Infrastructure –– very strange meeting,” said Van Minsel. “Very good meeting, but they’re not the ministry of infrastructure, they’re called the ministry of infrastructure. Don’t ask me, I’m still pondering on that one.”

A report last year said 1,604 dwellings are still using septic tanks in Peachland..

“Capital projects such as sewer extensions are costly and Peachland's population of 6,300 cannot fund major expansions simply with taxes,” Van Minsel wrote in a letter to provincial officials last year.

Early-bird charity golf tournament in Summerland

Win big at charity golf game

Photo: The Summerland Golf and Country Club

The Summerland Golf and Country Club is the idyllic setting for the 24th annual Charity Golf Tournament hosted by the Peachland Lions Club.

Two free round-trip tickets from WestJet are among the prizes to be won in one of the first charity golf tournaments of the year.

Golfers of all skill levels can tune up their game, enjoy a banquet meal, and raise money for a good cause, on Sunday, April 27 at the Summerland Golf Course.

The 24th annual tournament hosted by the Peachland Lions Club raises funds for Camp Winfield, which provides overnight outdoor recreation opportunities for kids and adults with disabilities.

“This is one of the first charity golf tournaments that take place in the Okanagan each year so it’s a great chance for eager golfers to get out and work on their game,” long-time event organizer Dave Tarry said.

“But it’s a fun tournament, so it’s also ideal for people who have just recently taken up golf,” Tarry said. “The Summerland golf course has one of the most spectacular settings in the Valley.”

Early bird fees are set at $150 per person for registrations before April 15. After April 15, the fee is $160. Banquet only admission is $45.

Registration fees include an 18-hole round of golf, use of a golf cart, and banquet ticket.

In addition to the grand prize of two free round-trip WestJet tickets between any cities served by regularly scheduled and marketed flights, there are door prizes and a silent auction with items such as a helicopter ride and wines.

Individual players are welcome, and they’ll be matched with others to create a foursome.

Tournament entry forms are available from Dave Tarry via email at [email protected] or through the peachlandlions.com website.

Four units eyed for Renfrew Road property in Peachland

Rezoning gets green light

Photo: District of Peachland

The property to be rezoned

A property on Renfrew Road – about a kilometre east of Hardy Falls – will be rezoned so a four-unit subdivision can be built sometime in the future.

Peachland council on Tuesday gave three readings to a rezoning request for 6488 Renfrew Rd. Final approval will be granted later after some minor conditions are met.

The application raised almost no concerns at council, other than it was noted the 2.27-acre property has environmentally sensitive areas.

“Development on the property will be concentrated on the southwest portion,” a report to council said. “The eastern portion of the subject property is not developable due to its slope and will be permanently protected through a no-build covenant.

“In total, approximately 44% of the property will be protected by covenants and rights-of-way, protecting the site’s environmentally sensitive and hazard areas from future development,” the report said.

Photo: District of Peachland

Peachland council meetings move to afternoons

Council meetings moved

Photo: District of Peachland

Peachland municipal council

Peachland’s regular Tuesday council meetings will move to afternoons for the rest of the year.

Except for the next one on April 22, which will start at 10 a.m.

Council generally meets twice a month at 6 p.m.

The new start time, on a trial basis, will be 3 p.m.

The move will save the municipality money and make it easier for councillors to attend virtually when they’re in Europe, said Mayor Patrick Van Minsel on Tuesday.

Coun. Keith Thom has a trip to the Netherlands upcoming. Van Minsel has family in Belgium.

“We don’t have a lot of public in the evening anyway,” said Van Minsel, explaining why the time shift was proposed. “By moving this, we make some cost savings because our staff doesn’t need to stay here that long.”

Coun. Terry Condon said the new start time will make it harder for the public to attend.

“This is the opportunity to make it even more difficult for people that work to come to a council meeting,” he said. “In my mind it’s just a question of diminishing the ability to enjoy the transparency of a council meeting.”

Thom said hardly anyone shows up at 6 p.m. anyway.

“If we were loaded at the 6 o’clock meeting with the public, I would have some problems with this, but we have one, sometimes two, maybe,” he said.

“If somebody wants to be here and it’s really important, they will be here,” added Van Minsel.

Public hearings, which are less common now under new provincial zoning rules, would still be held in the evenings, the mayor said.

Peachland’s meetings range from half an hour to two hours long. One hour would be about average.

Tuesday’s meeting lasted 45 minutes. Council also had a three-hour workshop in the morning and a closed-door meeting before the public session began.

Peachland receives money to finish path linking to West Kelowna

Peachland gets connected

Photo: Trail of the Okanagan Society

Phase one of a new trail linking Peachland and West Kelowna.

Just in time for the summer walking and cycling season, the District of Peachland has received a grant to complete a trail linking the community to West Kelowna.

In early 2024, Peachland was awarded up to $420,236 by the provincial government to build phase one of a 2.8-km trail between Peachland and Goat's Peak. The feds kicked in $356,400 for the project.

With phase one nearing completion, the B.C. government has announced an additional grant up to $500,000 for the second phase of the trail.

“We are so pleased the province sees how important this project is for our community, and also the Government of Canada, through these active transportation grants,” said Mayor Patrick Van Minsel.

“This is a very special project because it not only connects the two communities of Peachland and West Kelowna with a safe, multi-use pedestrian and cycling pathway, but it is also a critical link in the multi-use path networks that are connecting the communities from the North Okanagan to the South Okanagan.”

Once construction is completed, cyclists and pedestrians will soon have a safe connection to Goat’s Peak in West Kelowna. The new multi-use trail will begin just north of the intersection of Highway 97 and Buchanan Road in Peachland and end near the Seclusion Bay Road underpass under Highway 97 near the boundary of Peachland and West Kelowna.

The new path will be made up of short sections of protected off-street multi-use pathways adjacent to Highway 97, off street multi-use pathways and a stretch of neighbourhood bikeway along Drought Road. It should open in May.

The Peachland to Goat’s Peak trail will tie into a 250-km multi-purpose trail system that will hopefully one day span the entire Okanagan Valley. Once these trail systems are connected, communities from Sicamous to Osoyoos will be able to use the trail to get from one end of the Okanagan to the other.

Peachland Graffiti fundraiser coming this month

Retro Graffiti event coming

Photo: Contributed

The second-annual Peachland Graffiti takes place next weekend, bringing together retro vibes and fun while fundraising for the Peachland Classic Car Show.

The event, organized by the local chamber of commerce, will feature a pig roast, mini car show and unforgettable sock hop.

“Set against a backdrop of stunning scenery, our show features a dazzling lineup of pre-1980 classic cars, each with its own story to tell,” says organizers.

“Beyond the cars, indulge your senses at excellent local restaurants and explore unique boutiques that line the vibrant streets.”

The graffiti takes place Saturday, April 12, 5 - 10 p.m. at the Peachland Community Centre

More info and tickets ($55) can be found here.

Peachland golf course inching closer to reality

Golf course inching closer

Photo: Kathy Michaels

The future site of a nine-hole golf course in Peachland.

A development permit application for Peachland's long-awaited golf course is expected in the next couple of weeks, city staff say.

Director of planning, Darin Schaal updated town council on plans last week, and said that developer Romspen continues to work with their consultants to finalize the golf course plans.

Romspen Group plans to build a 445-unit project and nine-hole golf course on the southern portion of the property on Pincushion Mountain.

"These plans are key next steps in the process as the layout of the course has implications on: The development of the Somerset/Ponderosa Road B connection; and the overall land use plan, including the parks and trails plan," a district representative said in an emailed update.

"The consultants are also working to update the Environmental Impact Assessment to encompass the full site, beyond just the Ada Creek corridor."

The golf course was promised as part of a large-scale housing development agreement for Pincushion Mountain struck between the town and Rompsen Investment Corp. in 2023 and at one point the golf course was expected to be open by November of 2026.

It will bring life back to a golf course was built on the slopes of Ponderosa Mountain when the original neighborhood was built in the mid-70s.

It was closed in 2011 in anticipation of a large redevelopment that featured the involvement of golf legend Greg Norman, but that never came to fruition.

Photo: District of Peachland

The Romspen Group's plan for a 9-hole golf course and 445-unit housing development.

Destruction of old Peachland home offers chance to revisit history

History at New Monaco site

Photo: newmonaco.ca

FILE-Site of the New Monaco development

One of the remnants of old Peachland is set to fade into history at the site of New Monaco.

For years, people driving in and out of the small Central Okanagan town would have passed by an increasingly dilapidated farm house, sandwiched between Highway 97 and a turnoff from the Connector.

It was taken down last week as the first notable changes related to the massive New Monaco development take shape.

Peachland historian Don Wilson said the end of that 75 year old structure is simply a sign of the times. The development that has been 15 years in the making is set to double the town’s population.

“I think Peachland is changing — the whole valley is changing —and becoming more densified,” he said.

“For many years Peachland was a small-town of less than 500 and then there was a big jump in the 70s and it’s been growing ever since.”

According to a 2024 report from BC Statistics, Peachland's population is projected to increase from about 6,000 to 9,074 by 2046, a 47 per cent increase.

It’s a far cry from what was when that home took in its first residents.

Wilson said the farmhouse was built around 1949 for Maitland V Fetherstonhaugh, another valley pioneer, and his wife, when marriage linked their family to the Drought family.

The Fetherstonhaughs owned the land above what’s now the Coquihalla and the Droughts owned much of what fell below — thus the name Drought Hill. A remnant of a historic family though, ironically, the moniker matches the topography of the area nicely.

“The Droughts came in the early 1900s, around 1904, I think,” Wilson said.

That is when Drought brothers, Henry, John and Albert with their wives and children arrived in the Okanagan from Morris, Man., to make a new life.

Henry built a large house on the upper Drought property near Trepanier and Henry and John planted orchards.

“Their land was farmed from way back in the early days of the last century — it was a fruit farm.”

Descendants of the family kept it for years and in a section below Highway 97 is still in the family’s possession.

The stories about people who made a life in the area through farming, and other means, are abundant at the town’s museum.

Wilson said the area is rich with stories from its past, which is why it’s well suited to the sign that tips its hat to that notion with the sign that greets visitors with a welcome to “Historic Peachland.”

“In Peachland we lost 17, which is more people per capita, than any town in Canada in the First World War,” he said.

Peachland was also home to B.C.’s first female mayor in the 1940s.

Stella Gummow became the mayor of Peachland when her husband died, and left the role vacant.

“She later became an official in Victoria and she chose the Dogwood as B.C.’s flower,” Wilson said.

It was also home to Peter St. John, known as the Earl of Orkney, a hereditary title connected to the islands of the same name off the northern tip of Scotland. He received the title through a strange quirk of family fate after his elderly second cousin once removed, Cecil Fitzmaurice, died and the title passed to him.

The infamous Eddy Haymour was also Peachlander. He threatened politicians, held people hostage, fought in court and even drove away his own family in pursuit of his goal to open a theme park on rattlesnake island.

The Peachland Museum is at the end of Beach Avenue, where Wilson is a historian.