Near the locations of proposed camping sites on Bowen Island on August 15, 2022. Camping may be available on Bowen Island if a Metro Vancouver proposal goes through. PHOTO BY ARLEN REDEKOP
A group of Bowen Islanders in Vancouver, British Columbia, say they’ve raised tens of millions of dollars to stop a planned campground on their island, according to the Vancouver Sun.
A charity called Bowen Island Conservancy has publicly made a $30 million offer to Metro Vancouver to purchase the property slated for a regional park.
Metro Vancouver announced a plan last year to create a regional park — about 2½ times the size of Granville Island — with overnight tent camping on Bowen Island’s Cape Roger Curtis, and in May, purchased the waterfront property for $40 million from a private owner.
But the proposal has been controversial in Bowen, with many islanders opposed to allowing camping.
Earlier this month, a group calling itself the “No Camping Coalition” bought a full-page wrap advertisement for the local Bowen Island Undercurrent newspaper, urging people to “sign the no camping petition.”
Metro’s proposal, the advertisement says, “would be a high impact recreational facility that … would degrade environmentally sensitive areas and change the character of our community.”
Now, a charity called the Bowen Island Conservancy has publicly released a letter addressed to Metro Vancouver presenting two offers.
The first proposal is to pay $20 million to Metro in return for several commitments, including various conservation measures for the property and a ban on camping in the park. The second alternative would be to buy the property outright from Metro Vancouver for $30 million.
