Moving in and then complaining
Moving next to a long established speedway and complaining about the noise is like moving next to a farm and complaining about the smell or an airport and complaining about the planes.
Wendy Lojstrup
Brentwood Bay
Western Speedway was there first
Re: “Hoping Speedway will be silenced,” March 12.
I wonder who was there first? Western Speedway or the letter writer? Sounds like some of the people who move out by the airport and then complain about the noise.
Rose Foster
Victoria
In defence of Western Speedway
A question for the letter writer: You knew that Western Speedway was there yet you bought your home anyway. Why?
As you admit yourself, the track has been there since 1954 and set itself as far from urban sprawl as it could.
Motor racing is a legal and legitimate activity and only in North America is it viewed as something sinister and not something that “nice people do.” It does not countenance the use of illegal performance-enhancing drugs. It does not encourage illegal gambling. It most certainly does not allow the sexual abuse of underage participants by predatory coaches.
I’ve had to put up with people whining about noise at other tracks I have been associated with, and when I tried to listen to it all I could hear was a distant hum in the distance. “But I can hear it,” comes the reply.
This is nothing but pure bigotry. Most people are abysmal drivers and it seems most probable that they can’t understand how anyone can do it better (quicker) than they can.
Paul Whitworth
Saanich
Mayor shouldn’t dictate land use
I take offence when Mayor Stew Young dictates that after it’s sold, the Western Speedway grounds must be kept as a racetrack. The noise from this place is deafening and makes outside conversation impossible.
His bullying the public on this property makes it worthless for any developer to even consider.
Western Speedway is a nuisance and only prolongs the idea that Langford is Dogpatch.
John Nuttall
Bear Mountain, Langford
Learning to live with a little less
Since the virus has now been called a pandemic, I think all the concern about the money that will be lost by business is ridiculous. Keep your business and habits the same but remember one thing: Is money worth your life? A little less money may be tough but you can get through. Maybe businesses that pay rent could be forgiven their rent for a month. Live with less than you are used to and remember a lot of people live on much less always.
Carol Dunsmuir
Victoria
Highlight the good news of recovery
Re: “Now for some good news — 68,000 people have recovered,” March 12.
I'm delighted to know that 68,000 people have recovered from COVID-19, but it would have been even better if it had been on the front page, not buried on page A12, instead of more pages and pages of doom and disaster. We need to have some good news!
Joanna M. Weston
Shawnigan Lake
In search of sports on TV
Darn, the only sporting event left on TV is Jeopardy!
Bill Carere
Oak Bay
Praise for work of Dr. Bonnie Henry
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry has my respect in this current COVID-19 crisis. Dr. Henry’s calm demeanour when presenting information and facts and recommendations is somewhat reassuring and without theatrics in this stressful time. Many thanks to her for the endless hours of dedication in the protection of the health of everyone in B.C.
Mike Wilkinson
Duncan
We paid so that we’d have a pension
Re: “Governments should supply a basic income,” letter, March 12.
We’d all rather “not worry about meeting monthly expenses,” getting our bus passes paid for by the taxpayers, free post-secondary education, and in general just not really having to be accountable or responsible for anything.
But most of us who are past that in life worked hard to get to where we are. “Canadian seniors are already receiving a basic income — it’s called a pension.” Right, it’s the pension WE paid into for all our working lives so we’d HAVE that pension.
Bob Gracie
Victoria
Really, now, why are gas prices so high?
Watching the national news on television allows one to see people across the country happily pumping gas priced at less than a dollar a litre.
Russia and Saudi Arabia continue to flood the market with surplus oil and West Texas Intermediate falls to unheard-of lows.
Are the read-o-graphs at our local stations broken? They remain stubbornly fixed at unchanging prices.
Tom Siemens
Victoria
We should stay on standard time
I am in favour of stopping the semi-annual time change but I think the government has it wrong about staying on daylight savings time.
As the state of Idaho has already realized, staying on standard time is a better option. Given our latitude, who really needs an extra hour between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. in the summer?
Wouldn’t it be better to keep the earlier sunrise in the winter?
Permanent daylight time means sunrise after 9 a.m. in the winter, so kids will be walking to school in the dark and in colder temperatures. From a safety perspective, staying on standard time makes more sense.
Margaret Kavanagh
Victoria
One parking ticket sparks many questions
I had an appointment for a medical test at the Royal Jubilee Hospital. When I arrived with 15 minutes to spare, as is my practice, I found that the parking garage was full. I drove around the grounds for 15 minutes looking for a spot but there was none.
In desperation, I decided to take a chance and park in a “residential parking only zone” with the hope that the adjacent resident wouldn’t turn me in but, alas, he did.
There was room for four cars in front of his house and a wide side driveway that could hold four more cars off the street, but he did.
He must have because, to quote the city’s guideline, “parking tickets are issued on a complaint basis, when a resident contacts the city and reports the vehicle’s licence number, if this licence number is not on the city’s Residential Parking List the vehicle will be issued a ticket.”
This policy and procedure begs some answers:
Do the residents pay extra for the privilege of having designated parking for themselves and their friends on publicly owned streets?
Because a resident is on the “Residential Parking List” can he park in residential areas in other parts of town without being ticketed?
What about residents who don’t live next to a high parking-traffic facility? Are they not allowed to be on the Residential Parking List? Don’t they have equal rights to have designated parking in front of their house?
What about store owners? Shouldn’t a store owner get the revenue from the parking meters in front of his property because, yes, the streets are public but residential owners get exclusive rights to parking on public streets, so why not the store owners?
What if each home was given one space if it didn’t have its own off-street parking; wouldn’t that eliminate the need to build yet more costly parking garages and utilize the public streets more efficiently?
Don Boult
Saanich
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