East Sooke Regional Park has now officially grown by an additional 10 hectares.
The undeveloped parcel is bordered by two sides of the park and runs along East Sooke Road, right next to the East Sooke Volunteer Fire Department.
There are only a few remaining large patches of undeveloped land that can be added to the park, this being one of them.
Similarly, back in October of last year, a large parcel of land including Copper Mine Road was acquired by the Capital Regional District (CRD) allowing a new, safe corridor for carnivores such as bears and cougars to roam away from populated areas.
“This land acquisition in East Sooke Regional Park is welcome news and increases the amount of valuable and protected park land in our region,” said Colin Plant, CRD Board Chair.
“The CRD is committed to making progress on climate action and environmental targets and through land acquisitions like these we’re working towards protecting biodiversity and furthering the protection of ecological assets.”
The CRD purchased the parcel for $950,000 when the market value of the property was valued at just over $1 million. The previous owners, the Broadbent family, opted to donate $140,000 of the land’s value toward the preservation of the land.
“This property was part of the original Glenairly homestead and was purchased by our great grandparents, Alex and Nellie Gillespie, in 1910,” said the Broadbent family.
“Many Gillespie descendants have been fortunate to explore and play there, and we are delighted that it will now be preserved and shared for others to enjoy. We thank the CRD for making it possible,” they added.
Now, the total land occupied by the East Sooke Regional Park is over 1,480 acres, making it the third largest park within the CRD parks system. The only two larger parks are the Sea to Sea Regional Park and Sooke Hills Wilderness Regional Park.
The park is a crucially important habitat for bears, wolves, cougars and is host to several old-growth Douglas fir trees which are around 250-years-old.
The CRD wants to assure Greater Victoria residents that the newly acquired land is going to be left in its natural state to buffer the park’s existing borders in order to protect the biodiversity of the park.
