LIBERALS ABANDON RESORT PLAN
By Cam Fortems - Kamloops Daily News Staff Reporter
Lac Des Roches project on hold indefinitely
A plan to create a massive resort at Lac Des Roches has been dropped by the B.C. Liberal government after years of planning.
The development effort started soon after the B.C. Liberal government took power in 2001, when it looked for ways to balance the budget by selling public assets after drastically cutting income taxes.
“It's dead,” declared Bill Jollymore, part of a group of residents along the Highway 24 corridor west of Little Fort that opposed the project.
Jollymore's group and South Cariboo MLA Charlie Wyse received letters from a senior Ministry of Environment bureaucrat stating government was dropping plans to sell Crown land for a resort complex.
“They said after input from citizens and First Nations it didn't fit their plans,” Jollymore, said.
Government hired consultants to do initial planning for a 500-unit resort at the east end of Lac Des Roches, home to just 24 year-round residents. It also wanted a hotel, golf course, marina and to locate single family development on nearby Montana Lake.
Marie Sturman, manger of Crown Land opportunities in Victoria, who wrote the letter to the residents, refused comment Friday, referring calls to the public affairs branch.
Agriculture and Lands Minister Pat Bell called later in the day to explain government's decision. “We spent quite a bit of time and resources,” he acknowledged. “It's clear to me the local community and local First Nations were not supportive. The ability to execute on the deal is not there. It would take longer.” Bell said the project is “on hold” indefinitely.
Early in 2003 provincial government bureaucrats set targets of selling off $3.25 million worth of Crown land in the Southern Interior. That was slated to double in two years. Wyse said it appears the B.C. Liberals finally listened to strident oppositions from residents, who said the lake couldn't handle the pressure from government “bulldozing”.
“The philosophy of government when it was first elected was to sell off Crown land,” said the New Democrats MLA. “That was clear in their first term and I'm not aware of a change in philosophy.”
While sale of Crown land is required for well-planned resorts, Wyse said it shouldn't be done over objections of residents and at their expense of good planning.
Bell said while government must estimate its revenues for budgeting purposes, there is less demand today to generate revenue from sales of Crown land because of a greatly improved economic and financial picture.
“You're looking at a project on it own merits. Does it make sense to go ahead?” In the case of Lac Des Roches, Bell said the answer for now is “no.”
Both Wyse and Jollymore noted there are unsold lots at Lac Des Roches that have been on the market for at least a decade.