Sunday March 8, 2020 ~ COLWOOD
by Mary Brooke ~ West Shore Voice News
On a crispy-cold bright dry Sunday morning, half of Colwood’s city councillors were out bright and early to pitch in with brush-clearing at Perimeter Park. And not just for a photo-op, but literally digging in and pulling out.
Councillors Michael Baxter, Dean Jantzen and Gordie Logan geared up with leather gloves to use shears and shovels to help out with about 20 other volunteeers to clear wayward blackberry bushes in the 18-year-old park as part of Royal Bay at the Colwood oceanfront.
The event was organized by the Greater Victoria Green Team to cut back and control the spread of the invasive blackberries bushes and other invasive species. As spring warms up, some native plantings will be installed instead, said GVGT coordinator Amanda Evans.
Perimeter Park includes one of Colwood’s most beautiful trails. The pathway leads down to the oceanfront at Esquimalt Lagoon. Located at the end of Gratton Road (off Metchosin Road between Dunsmuir School and the Royal Bay development site), there is a spectacular ocean view right from the start of the trail that meanders down toward the ocean. There is a steep bit on the lower section of the trail, but it’s well groomed.
A number of benches (some affixed with memorial plaques) along the way that are placed to take in the panoramic views of Esquimalt Lagoon, Fisgard Lighthouse, Mount Baker, the City of Victoria, the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Olympic Mountains.
Today’s brush clearing which ran from 9:45 am to 1 pm saw about five or six brand-new volunteers come out to participate, along with some people who’ve helped out for years with GVGT around the region since 2014.
