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West Shore news…through the decades

We present recaps of some of the stories that were making headlines 10, 20 and 30 years ago in the Goldstream Gazette

We present recaps of some of the stories that were making headlines 10, 20 and 30 years ago in the Goldstream Gazette.

2007

Visitation at Capital Regional District parks is on the rise, as is the number of people participating in children’s and environmental interpretation programs. School programs in particular had a 55-per-cent surge in attendance compared to 2005, with more than 8,000 students, parents and teachers taking part in 210 programs in 2006. Thetis Lake was the third-most visited park, taking in 562,832 visitors.

Also making news the week of March 31, 2007:

Colwood council is faced with a quandary after it’s revealed a pair of pub license applicants have been charged with criminal offences. Council members wonder whether the applicants, who applied for a license for the Crossroads Restaurant and Bar, are the right type of people to receive a pub license.

1997

Most businesses appear to be in favour of Costco, but not at the proposed location. That’s the message delivered from the public following a three-hour committee meeting about the retail giant’s rezoning application for a location off Millstream Road. “If Costco wants to come in you’ve got to play by the rules of Langford; Langford doesn’t play by the rules of Costco,” says Peter Devries of the K-Mart store in CanWest Mall.

Costco representatives hold to their assertion that the store has to be on the highway in order to do the kind of business they want to do, and say they’ll find another location otherwise.

Also making news the week of March 31, 1997:

Local elementary school children are dealing with suicidal thoughts, eating disorders, abuse and divorce, says school counsellor Andy Robertson. Meanwhile, the ratio of school counsellors to students stands at one for every 1,500 students, so a counsellor only visits elementary schools for less than one day a week.

Last week, Robertson made a plea to school board trustees to have more counsellors added to the district.

1987

The battle surrounding a pond dispute heats up when developer Albert Yuen claims he is confident in the water quality of sewage outflow from a proposed 400-unit housing development. The development, slated for an area near Florence Lake and Skirt Mountain, proposes to dump 100,000 gallons of treated effluent into Spencer Pond.

Controversy centres on whether landowners, including Spencer junior secondary and Twi-Ways Mobile Home Park owner Beatrice Kramer, were correctly notified before the permit was issued, as well as the reliability and operation of the proposed treatment plant.

Also making news the week of March 31, 1987:

A Metchosin sheep farmer fears for her flock after roving dogs chase and kill two deer within a half mile of her farm. Joan Yates has had 25 sheep killed in two dog attacks over the past years said she will quit farming if the dogs attack her flock again. “It’s a traumatic experience,” she says, struggling with the revived threat. “Once you’ve seen your animals torn apart, their eyes ripped out and their entrails lying on the ground.”

Two large dogs recently forced a deer into Pedder Bay and chased it in the water until a nearby resident heard the thrashing and ran to get help.

And, Colwood council is cleared of any wrongdoing after Mayor Geoff Dunn asks the RCMP to investigate whether any council members had received a loan, reward or benefit on a zoning bylaw vote for a Petro-Canada tank farm off Sooke Road.

- compiled by Joel Tansey