I was happy to read in the Courier last week (Dec. 7) that I am not the only one noticing the unpleasant odours in Chemainus.
I was also pleased to see there is somewhere that I could go to address my complaints. I went online to complete the ‘Odour Nuisance Complaint Form’ on the Cowichan Valley Regional District website. Unfortunately, this form asks for one specific incident, has no check box for “how often?” and only allows one answer to be checked when many apply. In other words, the form is almost useless.
I live on Beach Drive and experience, at least once a week, a sewer, manure smell that seems to follow Askew Creek and is very noticeable at the Village Square Shopping Centre.
Lately, there is also often a new putrid smell wafting down through our town from up on the highway. I pity the businesses that are close. It should be totally enclosed and expansion should be limited.
It seems communication between Council and District is lacking in addressing this issue. As tourism is now the focus of our beautiful little town, shouldn’t we be cleaning up these odour problems and keeping our town beautiful and fresh so it is not known as ‘The Stinky Little Town That Did?’
Joan Takenaka
Chemainus