In late October, the development team at Bamberton was invited to work alongside of members of the Malahat First Nation as they built a playground for the youth in the community. With over 30 children under the age of 12, and limited recreational options in the surrounding area, it was a project that the families and the leadership of the community had been looking forward to for many years. It was a real privilege for the Bamberton team to be invited to participate in this rewarding experience and many new friendships were established as a result. One of the organizers of the project (Malina Adams) took the time to put together the following video of the event that helps capture some of what took place. The playground is poised to become an important part of the Malahat First Nation.
Helping Build a Playground
November 25th, 2009Bamberton supports efforts to protect the Saanich Inlet
September 17th, 2009A recent Vancouver Sun article by Judith Lavoie, called attention to the need for more protection of coastal ecosystems, especially the Sannich Inlet. This was an excellent article, which emphasized the importance of preserving the biological integrity of our unique coastal ecosystems. An aerial image of the remediated former cement plant at Bamberton was used to accompany the article, and unfortunately, as it was not captioned with a description, it may have come across to some as an example of environmental challenge, rather than an example of an environmental remediation and a significant improvement to the health of the inlet (which the remediation most definitely was).
While most readers of the article would not recognize the image as Bamberton, or may not even be aware of the property altogether, I thought that sharing this article with our audience via our blog might be a good opportunity to talk about our company’s history with, and intentions for, the extraordinary waterway which borders the Bamberton land.
The image in the Vancouver Sun article shows a site scraped to bare rock. An empty piece of land, that, next to the forest surrounding it, looks stark and damaged. On first look, what is difficult to see is that this bareness represents a clean slate. A completely (and successfully) remediated brownfeild site that was brought about by the clear intention to transform a damaged piece of the Saanich Inlet into a shining example of how development can, and should be happening in the province.
The proposed development of the Bamberton site (to LEED Gold standards), is what prompted the deconstruction of the old cement plant and the remediation of almost a million tons of Cement Kiln Dust (plus asbestos, and hydrocarbons) that had accumulated here over the years. The innovative containment of the CKD material (on site) and the resulting reduction in leachate entering the inlet was a significant, positive event. In fact, the ‘bareness’ of the site as it appears today, may represent the most measurably significant act of stewardship to have occurred in the Sannich Inlet in the last 150 years.
Three Point Properties applauds and supports the call for more coastal protection in Canada, especially in the Sannich Inlet. As the stewards of coastal properties in some of the most beautiful coastal areas of British Columbia, we understand the importance of protecting the environmental landscape including our marine environments. The proposed sustainable community at Bamberton will use the highest green building practices and LEED standards to ensure that the Sannich Inlet is protected from the legacy of damages that can be left behind by the ‘old’ ways of development.
Unlike most other waterfront development proposals, our plans have called for most of the foreshore (with the exception of the now-remediated former industrial site) to be left in their natural state (parks and green-space), with some minimally invasive walking trails near the shoreline. Unlike other proposals, which commonly try to maximize the waterfront property values, we’ve tried to leave most of this area for the public to enjoy. Additionally the proposal to have a single, centralized marina would reduce the proliferation of private docks such as has occurred on the Saanich Peninsula and Willis Point side and would help to ensure that such a marina (if approved) could be designed to ensure good fuel management practices, pump out stations for heads and bilges, and environmental spill kits.
It is my hope that those who respond to the call for the protection our coastal areas will see the benefits of this approach and the opportunity it brings to set the bar a little higher and build communities that work with nature, not against it.
Bamberton and Dockside Green
June 22nd, 2009Over the past three years Three Point Properties has been working with the community of Mill Bay and the CVRD to develop a vision for Bamberton as a net positive contributor to the social, economic and environmental fabric of the region. One of the most important milestones along this journey was when Three Point Properties became a partner and owner of Dockside Green, with Vancity Credit Union, in the fall of 2007.
It is our hope that Bamberton will join Dockside Green as an innovative, world-leading sustainable community. Here’s a recent article from our spring newsletter that helps explain the synergies and similarities and differences of these two communities.
http://www.bamberton.com/pdfs/101008-VancouverSun.pdf
Dockside Green and Bamberton lead the way in creating a new vision for sustainable communities
Three Point Properties is currently developing two of the world’s most innovative communities. Both Dockside Green, in Victoria, and Bamberton, in Mill Bay, represent a new way of planning for and building communities that we hope will thrive for generations to come.
Dockside Green, whose initial residents recently celebrated their first anniversary in the community, is known across North America and Europe as a world leader in sustainability. Its first residential phase was recently awarded with the highest ever LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum rating from the Canada Green Building Council. Accomplishments like this are putting Vancouver Island on the map of eco-communities of today and of the future.
Dockside, a mixed-use waterfront community on the Inner Harbour in Victoria has some features in common with the Bamberton site, located just 30 minutes to the north. Both communities are located on remediated Brownfield land and both are located on highly desirable oceanfront properties close to many attractive natural amenities. Each also lends itself well to a mixed-use live/work community that will attract residents and businesses that hold sustainability as a core value. Further, Dockside already stands as a “proof of concept” that triple bottom line communities that value social equity, environmental responsibility and economic viability equally can indeed flourish. Bamberton plans to build on this foundation.
Welcome to the Bamberton Blog
May 20th, 2009For those of you I have had the opportunity to meet in the community over the past few years, thank you for visiting our new blog for updates about Bamberton, a project I am very excited to be involved with.
For those of you I haven’t met personally yet, let me introduce myself. …..
My name is Ross Tennant and I have been involved with Bamberton (as an owner and partner) since Three Point Properties purchased the land in March, 2005. Since then, a lot has changed – we have remediated (cleaned up) the site, removed much of the former cement plant, and embarked on an extensive planning and rezoning process. We’ve entered into a collaborative planning process with members of the community and some of the most talented planners, engineers, and architects in the business. We’ve sought out (and incorporated) the best examples that we could find of leading –edge environmental design and engineering.
I have been enjoying my conversations with community members and community leaders over the past two years as we have been working with the CVRD on the rezoning process for Bamberton. We’re very pleased with the results of this dialogue and collaborative planning process and believe that the plan has benefited from a wide range of contributors.
Our new website has been designed as an interactive and educational resource for the community that we are part of. I am hoping that this blog and the new website will help us expand on the discussions we have already been having around such topics as sustainability, community development, parkland dedications and community partnerships.
The new website has also been designed as a resource for people looking to learn more about the potential of true triple bottom line and net positive community development. To learn more about this vision for Bamberton, please watch for my future blog posts.
Twice a month, I’ll be writing about progress at Bamberton and on topics of regional significance. Other members of our team will also contribute with posts relating to their expertise and insights on Bamberton and related topics.
Please send us your comments and ideas. I’m looking forward to some great topics of discussion.
Ross Tennant
Partner, Bamberton
Three Point Properties