Diagram of Proposed Golf Course Site
Questions and Answers
1.Q. What is being proposed for the Hollyburn Ridge sites?
A. Two developers are competing to lease the site from the municipality for 99 years to build a golf course and private country club. One of the developers, Cypress Ridge Golf Ltd., plans to sell equity memberships for $30,000. Memberships could be sold afterwards at market value, allowing members to speculate on the real estate value of the 99-year lease. v
2. Q. Why are developers willing to spend so much money to build a golf course high on Hollyburn Ridge where snow lies seven months of the year, and the annual rainfall is twice that of Ambleside?
A. Even though independent consultants claim that on-site sewage disposal is feasible, Cypress Ridge Golf Ltd. plans to invest one million dollars to extend the municipal sewage system up the mountain. This implies an intent to build more than just a golf course.
3. Q. Why not compromise and build a smaller 18 hole course, keeping as many of the old-growth trees as possible?
A. We agree with environmental experts that the entire site must be protected. Conditions that promote golf course turf are at odds with those needed to maintain a healthy forest. Golf courses require the use of lavish treatments of chemical fertilizers, herbicides and fungicides - chemicals that poison natural ground cover as well as water quality below. Construction would devastate the site, stripping away the forest floor. Earth movers would alter natural water courses, and tons of sand would have to be trucked in to lay foundations for greens.
4. Q. What's so special about this site? Aren't there plenty of old trees on the mountain?
A. Ethnobotanist Wade Davis has called this site "A Carmanah in our backyard". Nowhere else on the North Shore is there such an easily accessible transition zone old-growth forest with this number and variety of old trees and range of undergrowth. The trailhead is only a few feet from the road.
5. Q. What are the benefits to the public of protecting this forest?
A. By constructing an interpretive boardwalk trail, people of all ages and physical abilities could visit this local treasure and gain important knowledge and appreciation of the value of an ancient forest in these days of declining wilderness. West Vancouver would be conserving a majestic natural heritage and bequeathing these ancient trees to the care of our children. No one can put a price on trees which were already 500 years old when Captain George Vancouver sailed past our shores.
6. Q. Are there other old-growth forests in the area that could be used as an alternative?
A. No. This is the only such site that is only 10 minutes from the road. Its greatest value is its accessibility, making it available to seniors, young children and even the disabled when proper boardwalks are built. This is one of only a few places on the Hollyburn Ridge where the old-growth cedar-hemlock forest was not logged.
Diagram of Elevation View
7. Q. Won't a golf course save some trees?
A. The golf course will actually destroy the best attributes of this forest and will affect the remaining trees because of blowdown and dieback. The value in this site is preserving a true old-growth forest not just a few individual trees or a small unsustainable pocket like the 22 acres proposed.
8. Q. Won't more people see the forest if there is a golf course around it than now?
A. Once developed as a nature park, far more people would see the trees than if on a golf course. For example, over 400,000 people visited Capilano suspension bridge last year, whereas a maximum of only 60,000 rounds of golf are available on a 27 hole course, representing repeated visits from a small number of golfers.
9. Q. Some people have suggested that approving a golf course will keep out development.
A. This couldn't be further from the truth. As stated above, the developer intends to extend municipal sewers up the mountain, so if the golf course fails, as is highly likely because of the bad weather, this area will already have been cleared and serviced and ready for other development. The golf course would be the foot in the door for future development.
10. Q. Is there any other place to put the golf course apart from the site?
A. There are a number of other locations that would actually be better for the golfers because of the lower elevation and better year round weather. However, the present proponent wants this site because the principle owners are partners in the nearby Cypress Bowl ski facilities.
