24 replies to this topic

[Zoe]

More info is at the home page. The site documents a diligent community and environmental planning process. Impressive.

Here's Elkington Pond, from the Flickr stream.

[Bernard]

As a model of sustainability it fails dramatically. It extends housing into wilderness further than anywhere else. It is a completely car dependent community that needs you to drive 15 km to shop for anything.

The actual housing is going on highly productive forest lands that were first clear cut and then not replanted.

The development will be isolated and be home to about 150 to 200. It is an example of extreme urban sprawl but with a good marketing message.

 

Updated April 2014 - 

My views changed recently because of site visit, I am impressed with what I saw

Edited by Bernard, 07 April 2014 - 12:53 PM.

[mysage]

As a model of sustainability it fails dramatically. It extends housing into wilderness further than anywhere else. It is a completely car dependent community that needs you to drive 15 km to shop for anything.

The actual housing is going on highly productive forest lands that were first clear cut and then not replanted.

The development will be isolated and be home to about 150 to 200. It is an example of extreme urban sprawl but with a good marketing message.

You hit on a few of the points that discouraged us when we looked there. The amount of car travel that results from the isolation plus the fact that their "green" building standards will result in homes that are very expensive means that for the majority of people this is unworkable.

As I stated in an earlier post this development is great in theory but works for very few in reality.

[LJ]

This is interesting, Zoe likes a development that others are calling unsustainable sprawl.

Has hell frozen over and I missed it?

[G-Man]

This is the worst type of sprawl. SFD in wilderness. Great. That said it is not really any better or worse than bear mountain especially since the commercial area did not materialize.

[Holden West]

I guess this is the better choice if the only other option is complete wall-to-wall subdivisions. But sustainable? If I can't get a litre of milk and a newspaper without driving for the amount of time it takes to listen to "Alice's Restaurant" on NPR then it's not really sustainable. Where are the schools, the rec centres, the public transit?

The marketing seems to be targeting those that think Bear Mountain and its hockey-haired, flip-flop-wearing creator are terribly gauche.

[Zoe]

Consider me disillusioned. Thank you!

[LJ]

I didn't think that there model homes were particularly attractive, ,more like summer cabins, but maybe that was the look they were going for.

[gumgum]

It's an interesting idea. I really like the master plan and the integrated working forest.
But yeah, it fails if there is no commercial*. There is industrial however.

*Someone I know is pretty sure there is some commercial though. I can't seem to find any info on the site.

[Bernard]

I am not sure how any commercial can make it there. The population is too small and it a very long commute for any staff.

You would be better off having no houses on the site and continuing to manage it for forestry of some sort. The houses are situated in locations that will cause a lot of negative interactions with wildlife and will push a permanent human presence into the area.

There are many more spaces one could put houses like that with a much lower environmental impact.

[gumgum]

^Yes, I'm sure even a general store would struggle.

[Mike K.]

The Goldstream Heights development is a stones throw from Elkington Forest, so conceivably some form of commercial could be built at some time, but it's unlikely.

[Bernard]

Very different access to the two as I understand it, you get to Goldstream Heights via the road to the south end of Shawnigan Lake and Elkington is via a different road.

Also, Goldstream Heights is connected to existing development at the south end of Shawnigan lake.

Even at that, Goldstream Heights is likely only going to home to 100 people. That, together with the people at Elkington Forest, would not be enough to justify retails that services local residents even if it were on the Malahat

[VicHockeyFan]

Some marketing is picking up.  I'm not sure how commercial works for such a small base of people.

[Mike K.]

Got more info?

[VicHockeyFan]

Got more info?

 

I'm awaiting instructions from them, they have bought some social media space.

[Mike K.]

This project is now back after a few years hiatus. Plans call for 77 homes and 15 commercial spaces.

 

http://www.elkingtonforest.com/

 

 

 

[Bernard]

I was invited to come up and see what is being done at Elkington and I have to say I am impressed with what is going on.  In the context of the area it is a much better use of the land everything else that is going on around it.

 

The website does not do a good job of putting the property, especially the forest, in context with the whole area around it.  From the website and air photos it was not clear to me the relationship of the houses to the rest of the property, the houses are slated to be on the land with the lowest productivity forest.

 

I had a chance to talk to them about the forestry aspect and it sounds like there is a realistic long term plan for the forest.   It is also large enough of an that were will be enough timber removed each year to most likely be viable over the decades.   The forest as it stands now is not anywhere close to ready for harvesting but there are trees that could come out now in a thinning process.    Much the area around it was harvest in the last decade which I find astonishing because the trees would not have had much value to them.  There clearly is no serious plans on the south Shawnigan lands in relation to forest management.  

 

Yes, Elkington will be a car dependent community but a much better designed and laid out one that most of the rest of the area.   The Goldstream Heights stuff is a nightmare, the land was all completely clear cut before subdivision.   The very thin soils are gone so you are working with little more than bare rock.   You are buying either a 5 or 10 acre lot in Goldstream Heights and it is bare,

 

Even though the bare land strata lots are in the range of 1/3 of an acre, the way the Trailhead Hamlet is laid out is very intimate.   While walking around it I was consistently surprised at how quickly I moved on the map.  Part of it is because the roadway is narrow, the properties only 20-23 meters wide, and all the development and construction has to take place in a small part of each property, it takes up less space than most conventional city suburbs.  For 15 lots and a small community centre they use about 10,000 square meters, one hectare, for the houses, main yards, road etc.....   I have looked at their drawings of the Trailhead Hamlet numerous times, but it was only going on site today that showed me how small a space we are talking about.  

 

As to the commercial, I got a better understanding of what they have in mind.   They have set aside space for light industrial/commercial in part of the development, the idea being that home businesses that out grow the home could continue not far away.   The coffeeshop does not sound like it intended to be a serious fulltime commercial venture, but more likely a seasonal location serving the people on the Trans Canada Trail.

 

For me, the website is what lets the vision for this development down.  I will admit I am jaded because every developer website tends to say community, sustainable, green, eco, buzz word, buzz word etc....  Every developer has beautiful drawings to make us fall in love with the project.   I think Elkington suffers from looking and feeling the green wash when they are not.

 

They also do not tell their story well.   This is in large part about a group of people working hard for a decade to protect a 1000 acres

[gumgum]

They need some communications and marketing help.

[Mike K.]

It looks like the website originally created for the project prior to it being placed on-hold has been somewhat re-used and molded into the present website.