Rather than being a nurturing force, residents are hoping water won’t damage trees along Mount Newton X Road.
The Residents and Ratepayers of Central Saanich Society backed up a request from the Mount Newton Neighbourhood Association that the district stop the construction of a proposed waterline to save trees along the route.
The ratepayers presented council with an arborist’s report that states the proposed waterline will require the removal of native trees and those adjacent to the waterline will be subject to mechanical wounding and loss of mechanical support roots.
In a letter to council, Mount Newton Neighbourhood Association president Robert Bocking said, “The MNNA has grave concerns about the destruction of the trees along this proposed heritage road, and again requests that the project be halted and other alternatives explored.”
In response, council asked for its own arborist’s report from Urban Forestry to address the residents’ concerns. The assessment will include tree condition and risk evaluation, determination of construction damage and mitigation techniques including any possible lateral adjustment changes to the proposed waterline alignment and a tree protection plan.
The assessment will cost $6,500, plus taxes, and should be completed in two weeks.
Any design changes and amendments to the tender package would take approximately two weeks, at an estimated cost of $9,000 for consulting fees.
“It will be a four to six week delay (in the overall process),” said district engineer Nirmal Bhattacharya.