Protect Colwood Creek Park

Follow the Park Management Plan

Pause, Review, Consult

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What’s Up?

A major community garden hub is proposed for Colwood Creek Park between Veterans Memorial Parkway, Brittany Drive, and Antrobus Crescent, with up to 150 plots. Nearby residents first started a petition, then on May 15, 2026, the Colwood Creek Ratepayers Association was formed.

Since we formed, City staff asked the proponent to also diagram a layout opposite the off-street parking lot on Sunridge Valley Drive. Such a site is even closer to large residences in Langford and even farther from densely populated areas of Colwood. There is no evidence that the residents of Colwood’s interests would be well served by such an arrangement, and it is not something that the Colwood Creek Ratepayers can support. We don’t believe that a large community garden should be placed anywhere in Colwood Creek Park.

Founder and interim President Hilary Mackey lives and gardens on Antrobus Crescent. Anyone residing in the Colwood Creek neighbourhood is welcome to join. We’re just getting started, so watch for impossible-to-miss T-shirts, or email info@colwoodcreekratepayers.ca to join.

Tell us as much as you’re comfortable: Name, address (and postal code), email address, and phone number. We won’t share your personal information outside the group. To contact you, we need an email address or phone number, but if you want it kept private (really limited sharing), let us know.

We formed due to the community garden proposal and are focussed on it. We like our neighbours so much, and are actively discussing other neighbourhood issues like noise from the car wash. We’ll stick together listening and watching, reading and talking as long as we can!

With an election this fall, it’s a great time to learn about your City and how municipal government works! Everyone’s entitled to opinions, and we have some, but our main focus is to find facts, share them, and act. We’re stronger together.

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Why Residents Are Concerned

Simply put, after lots of reading and thought, we don’t believe that a very large community garden should be placed anywhere in Colwood Creek Park. There are innumerable reasons for our conclusion. Traffic, parking, and safety are recurrent themes because the off-street parking by Sunridge Valley only holds 20 cars, and every dog person isn’t going to just stay away so gardeners can move in. Our three main roads on one side of Colwood Creek all meet near the path to the site pitched to Council on April 13th where up to (at last count) 133 gardeners might be going to beds.

The Official Community Plan allows a community garden in any park, but the priority is placement in densely populated neighbourhoods. As we see it, except for the gardeners (many of whom are not residents), it’s a lose/lose proposition: Not only would this neighbourhood get something it doesn’t need, but neighbourhoods that should get community gardens, won’t. And the Colwood Creek Park Management Plan specifically indicates that amenities shouldn’t be added to the Veterans Memorial area because of the proximity to residences.

That’s the short version!

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Timeline

Based on Council minutes and other public documents

• Jun 2, 2025 — Presentation by Ryan Campeau, Parks Lead, Capital to the Parks and Environment Committee. Discussion of Background and History of the Agricultural Land Commission, Land Use in the Agricultural Land Reserve, and Financial Considerations. (p. 16 of 481 here.)
• Oct 14, 2025 — Parking management update (72‑hour limit, 2‑vehicle household limit). A motion to implement this is coming to Council in June.
• Oct 27, 2025 — Presentation by Kathy McLennan, Director of Finance, to Committee of the Whole on the Growing Community Grant funding. Discussion re Remainder of funding to be spent by March 2028, Allocation of unused funding to alternative areas, Park projects and needed amenities, and Input from residents for a community garden. COTW recommended pivot for works on Colwood Creek Park to Oceanview Park and Herm Williams Park and deferred Growing Communities Fund consideration. (Item 5.2 here)

“Input from residents for a community garden” surprised me, as I’d missed it. Moreover, Minutes show there were no written submissions and nobody spoke to give public input. So what is “input from residents for a community garden” referencing?

• Dec 8, 2025 — ALR discussion; Council directs staff to apply for partial exclusion
• Apr 13, 2026 — Garden Hub proposal presented; Council supports “in principle”
• May 5, 2026 — $98K grant announced
• May 14, 2026 — Colwood Garden Society Information and Planning Meeting
• June 8, 2026 — Council meeting at 6:30 pm
• June 22, 2026 — Council meeting at 6:30 pm

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Who to Contact

Your voice matters. Council and staff are actively reviewing the proposal.

• Mayor and Councillors
• Manager of Parks
• Manager of Bylaw Services
• Parks & Environment Committee
• Submit Action Request
• Meeting Portal

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How to Participate

The City of Colwood offers many resources. We have direct links below, or you can look around at Colwood.ca

• Submit written comments (email or mail)
• Subscribe for updates
• Attend meetings
• Register to speak electronically
• Watch the livestream
• Be part of the Colwood Creek Ratepayers Association

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Parking Rules Near the Park

A concise summary of the most relevant rules from Traffic & Highway Regulation Bylaw 1134:

It’s a big book, but particularly pertinent to residential areas are: parking is to be within 30 cm (12 in) of the curb; no blocking sidewalks or footpaths; and parking is prohibited within 6 m from intersections, 6 m before stop signs, 5 m from hydrants, 1.5 m from driveways, and within 1 m of another vehicle.

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Documents & Sources

Information on this site is sourced from publicly available documents:

• Council minutes, agendas, and submissions
• Staff reports
• ALC reports
• Colwood Garden Society proposal
• Traffic and Highway Regulation Bylaw 1134
• Colwood Creek Park Management Plan
• Media releases
• Resident fact sheet

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Neighbourhood Voices

Our plan? Find facts and share resources first. A space for letters, observations, photos, and resident perspectives was a lower priority, but as we’ve written letters, we’re sharing them. The next meeting is on Monday, June 8th, and if an issue isn’t on the agenda, you can still talk for up to two minutes during public input or contact the City in other ways at any time.

Care to share? Email webmaster@colwoodcreekratepayers.ca

PS – Wear your T-shirt! Need one? They were her bright idea, and Hilary needs to hear from you at president@colwoodcreekratepayers.ca.

Public Input Documents

• June 4, 2026 Covering Letter for the Petition submitted to the City of Colwood on June 5, 2026 from Neva Waselenchuk, Brian Beastall, and Jim Gowriluk
• June 8, 2026 from Jim Gowriluk
• June 5, 2026 from Hilary Mackey
• June 5, 2006 from Lawrence Surges* Part 1, Part 2
• May 24, 2026 from the Colwood Creek Ratepayers

*Some agenda packages are very large (> 500 MB), slow to load, and hard to navigate. Use information provided to locate the specific item on a particular page.