Transition Sooke in the Community
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Transition Sooke Op-Ed:
Pausing Some Development to Meet our Climate Goals
For the past decade, Transition Sooke has been raising the issue of the climate emergency with the Sooke community and our elected officials. With the development of the Official Community Plan (OCP), we escalated our call for an aggressive response to climate change.
We recently suggested that Council put a pause on new development applications for a period of time to see what kind of growth could proceed while still meeting our climate emergency goals. In an earlier presentation to the OCP Advisory Committee to Council, we demonstrated that building more houses increases the number of people and vehicles. That means more greenhouse gases, more traffic congestion and the loss of that “small-town feel” that everyone knows and loves.
Transition Sooke is not suggesting stopping all growth in our community. In our presentation to Council on December 13, 2021 we said that we want more development of non-market, affordable housing. We must provide our young and the difficult-to-house the shelter they deserve. With the average price of homes near $800,000, Sooke desperately needs this kind of low-cost housing. Housing is a human right, not a commodity or an investment.
We have also stated that we want to promote the increased development of local, independent business space, both retail and office, in order to stimulate our local economy. Growing our local economy will mean more local jobs, fewer people commuting and fewer people travelling large distances to shop, which will help reduce our greenhouse gas emissions.
A resilient Sooke has the positive spinoff of reduced traffic congestion, a vibrant local economy, food security, better flood and drought protection, enhanced wildlife habitat and biodiversity and more natural spaces for everyone to enjoy.
To see the entire op-ed, click here
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Transition Sooke Governance
Transition Sooke is a Society, under the Provincial Societies Act. However, because we operate differently from many societies, it seemed important to have our organizational by-laws match our actual practices. Hester Vair made a study of our existing bylaws and created a new set that matches us better. If you want to know more, or contribute to the ongoing by-law discussion, contact Alan
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Water Group aka 606 Water
By networking in the community over the past few months, the Water Group brought about two successful presentations on groundwater: one through Sooke Region Lifelong Learning and the other, organized by Juan de Fuca Director Mike Hicks and the JdF Planning Office, through the Water Protection Branch of the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development. The Water Group is following its interest in community well monitoring and getting more accurate rainfall data for the West Coast.
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WHOA
Transition Sooke’s presentation to the District of Sooke Council called for a pause in certain kinds of
development. Sooke recently shared its building permit status for 2020 and 2021. In 2021, the value of home renovations was small, $4 million or 4.5% of the total; much of that was to add secondary suites. The figures for new builds are instructive, though. In 2020, Sooke issued permits to build 173 new homes with a total value of over $37 million. By 2021, that figure had more than doubled to $81 million, to build 473 new homes. That’s 646 new homes, or a 17% increase on Sooke’s entire 2016 housing stock being constructed in the past 24 months.
Traffic Worse? You Bet!
Sooke’s current population is just shy of 15,000. With 646 new homes in Sooke, each with 1.5 cars (2017 CRD transportation study), we have 969 more vehicles on the road than we did in 2019. The heavy traffic congestion is a daily Sooke experience for commuters. The new highway construction currently being carried out between Glintz and Connie will do little to solve a made-in-Sooke problem.
To learn more, check out the spreadsheet Renovation and New Construction 2022-21. .
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Upcoming Events
Transition Sooke's AGM will be held in March 2022. We will be saying a fond farewell to Michael Tacon (Moki). Moki was a driving force in the formation of Transition Sooke 11 years ago. We are grateful for his wisdom and leadership.
Earth Day is coming April 22, and the District of Sooke has reached out to request Transition Sooke's involvement. A lot of great ideas are swirling around. Stay tuned...
Ongoing Events
Transition Sooke groups are continuing to meet via videoconferencing. For the Climate Change Emergency Teams, contact the individuals listed at the top of the Climate Emergency page. For other groups, please send a message to the general email.
Our Transition Sooke monthly meeting is at 7 pm on the first Wednesday of each month, so for the next four months, meetings will happen
- Wednesday Mar. 2, 2022
- Wednesday April 6, 2022
- Wednesday May 4, 2022
- Wednesday June 1, 2022
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Transition Sooke Needs You!
Food Security – A few years ago we held a Green New Deal meeting followed by a workshop where we established a number of Action Teams. One of those Teams — Food Security — could really do with some new energy.
Action Teams – Come and get involved in our Water, Local Economy, and OCP and Climate Action Teams.
Council Watch Dog – We need folks to attend council meetings (in-person or online) and write a short report on issues relevant to Transition Sooke.
If any of these tasks interests you, please email us. |
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