The recent front page advertorial for Trilogy and Coast Realty glowingly describes the excitement of the new town of Cayet, to be built from the ground up on the land rezoned for Trilogy by the Village of Cumberland. As residents of Cumberland, we do not support or subscribe to this vision of the future. Cayet creates more job seekers than jobs, and more roads than revenue. It is a bad deal for this village.

Some years ago the people of Cumberland came together to write their OCP and made some very clear statements. Their vision was one of a Village in the Forest, making the most of our amazing natural assets and the creative and spirited people who live here. Residential development close to the village core and reflecting the traditional values of the village. Industrial space along the Bevan corridor and, yes, commercial at the highway.

We entrusted this vision to our council, asked them to be guided by it and trusted them to act responsibly towards the people and the place they represent. The creation of a 'new town' betrays that trust. It may be a 'done deal', but we need to realise what has been done in our name.

Triolgy's vision is at www.cayet.ca. Read through those pages and watch the video on their 'events' page. It makes no mention of Cumberland; Cayet is to be separate, somewhat embarrassed about the scruffy cousin who lives up the road and pops round occasionally on his quad with a few cans of Lucky. Cayet is a place where "Their eggs come from chickens down the road, their fish is fresh from the ocean, and their fruits and vegetables depend on what is available at that time of year." That is if they haven't bought them at 'Cayet Traders I Pavilion, 40,000sq ft Retail Anchor'.

What good might this bring? We must ask this, and demand answers of those who voted for it. Cumberland needs tax revenue, and it needs jobs. Without these our streets and systems will fall apart and our downtown merchants will pack up and leave.

Commercial development brings revenue but more infrastructure brings more costs. The aim must be the maximum commercial and industrial revenue with the minimum new infrastructure. If cash is the goal then zone a compact area, let it develop fully and push the taxes as high as the big stores will bear. Use that money to create a low tax Business Improvement District in the downtown and fund infrastructure improvements for the village.

But Cayet is more than a commercial park. The masterplan drawing shows over five times as much land for residential as commercial, and a street pattern of wide, low density housing that appears to create about as much paved road as Cumberland already has. That road, and the sewers and water pipes that run along them, will need maintenance too. We have heard all too often that residential taxes do not pay for infrastructure, they cost more than they contribute. This development would double that shortfall.

One can't help thinking that the residential lots are the developer's prize here, especially those near Maple Lake. If this development is about bringing in more tax dollars than it costs to maintain, show us the numbers to prove that. If you don't have them, how do you know you're not making things worse?

What about jobs? Without a clear idea of who will lease commercial space, it is hard to make a judgment on jobs created, but we can look at the supply side. The proposed 1,300 new homes will house people who wish to work. If the profile is like Courtenay or Cumberland at the 2006 census, for every new household there are 0.93 employed people. That means 1,200 people looking for work somewhere in the valley. The commercial development must create that many jobs, otherwise those searching for work here will merely have more competition. We doubt it'll even get close.

It's been said that Cumberland needs a shot in the arm. Sadly, like many things people shoot into their arms these days, the initial buzz of Cayet may be followed by years of struggle and strife. It might even kill us.

We know that the town of Cayet does not match the vision spelt out so clearly in our OCP, we doubt that it will create jobs and revenues to support our Village; it may well increase our infrastructure burden, and we fear that the residents will want as little to do with Cumberland as the developers do. Our council has not been open to building a consensus about development, and has not acted responsibly in failing to lay out a clear financial case for a rezoning that is entirely predicated on improving the financial stability of the Village. We fear that we cannot trust this council to act appropriately the next time a developer wants a piece of the Forest that this Village was once in.

Trilogy wants a new town next to the hollowed out husk of the old one. We like our Village, and have a vision for what it can be. We need leadership that believes in Cumberland, not Cayet.

Nick Ward, Sue and Evan Loveless, Steve Morgan, Sharon MacDonnell and over 50 other Cumberland Residents


This article is visible on Facebook at http://on.fb.me/kSil7p and elsewhere, where it has over 60 expressions of support from Cumberland Residents.

Trilogy's promotional site is at www.cayet.ca and their video on www.cayet.ca/events

You can see the Global TV report about the development at http://bit.ly/ixX7SZ