The District of Saanich is splitting the bill with residents and organizations to buy a plot of green-space from BC Hydro.
Kings Park, located near the corner of Richmond and Kings road, has been an undeveloped green-space that BC Hydro has owned since 1958, and has recently been determined to be a "surplus to it's needs." Saanich will be turning the property into a new park.
Saanich has committed to buying the property for $5.5 million, with the community contributing $2.75 million towards the purchase.
Saanich Mayor Fred Haynes says buying the park is a once in a lifetime opportunity.
"The unique to preserve green-space for the next 50, 100 years, they don't come along very often. If this land was not purchased at this time, it would be gone forever."
He says if they didn't buy it, then it could be picked up by a developer.
"If we did not purchase that land, then it would have been purchased on the open market, and probably the vast majority of it would have been converted to housing"
He says the property not only will provide residents with a park, but will the abundance of trees on the property will continue to act as a carbon sink, and be helpful to the environment.
Haynes says conversations with fundraising groups are still underway, but Saanich has already committed to the purchase.
"The land is going to be purchased by Saanich under our own financial tools. What we're asking if for, is the community to come up with the 2.75, so we can maximize the use of that land for park. In the absence of that, there will be some hybrid use, which is yet to be determined, where there will be, perhaps, some housing, perhaps, as much park as we can."
He says preserving this space will not only benefit the residents of the area, who can enjoy the park, but also the environment. There are a lot of trees on the property, which Haynes says acts as a carbon sink, and is especially needed in the current climate emergency.