Editor:
This letter is asking Delta council to support Beach Grove Golf Club in a different way, and to remind residents about the public meeting to be held on Nov. 2.
The Beach Grove Golf Club needs the financial input of the development planned for 16th Ave. to cover a mortgage. We want this club to remain a vibrant part of our community.
The difficulty is that the 16th Ave. site is fully treed with plantings that have probably been in place since the course opened in the 1920’s. As well as these trees, there are large cottonwoods and other species that are growing from wild land and ditch next to the groomed area. All of these trees absorb the winter rains and groundwater.
Without them, the water that drains from upper Tsawwassen into the flood plain of the Beach Grove/Boundary Bay residential area will be greater in volume.
The community will be more prone to a higher water table and the likelihood of flooding surrounding properties, which would be a recipe for a class action civil liability suit.
It is easy to forget that Beach Grove is on a flood plain, and in the past was heavily treed. When the tunnel went in and Tsawwassen was developed they did not have access to our current level of knowledge about the consequences of large tree removal.
There are solutions that could help with both Beach Grove Golf Club and the community. The land could be purchased by the city for future parkland or green space.
Beach Grove Golf Club could sell or develop another portion of their land that would have less of an environmental impact or the community could start a GoFundMe page or brainstorm other ways of helping the club.
Mac Savage
