It’s not exactly the prettiest spot in all of Langford, but the Luxton Detention pond got a facelift recently.
About 100 high school students showed up last Wednesday (May 2) morning, eager to plant 300 Western red cedars in an effort to spruce up the eyesore.
TimberWest, a timber and land management company, donated the seedlings.
The student labour was a way for Belmont secondary school to say “thank you” for $10,000 that the City of Langford donated to the school’s 2012 dry prom and after party.
This year will be the first time Belmont has held an all-night, alcohol-free grad – already a common tradition in many high schools. Belmont vice-principal Dick Juhasz said the effort is good for the community and good for the students.
“I think it’s giving to the community. It’s positive for them,” said Juhasz. “And, as you can see, they’re enthusiastic. Everybody’s doing something, that’s a positive. Kids taking responsibility and doing it. I’m quite proud of them.”
The detention pond is a soccer-field sized area on Luxton Road that holds excess water from storm drains, a byproduct of rampant development in the area. The level of the water fluctuates seasonally and flows out into Firehall Creek by way of controlled outpours, preventing floods.
In an effort to beautify the area, Langford has already planted native species of plants around the edges of the area, including roses, snowberries and cottonwood trees. Despite a few nibbles from deer, the plants are doing well.
Two years ago the Belmont grad class did the same at the Leigh Road Interchange on the Trans Canada Highway.
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