Students at Summerland Secondary School have been studying the controversial Banks Crescent development proposal as part of their Civics 11 class this year.
Dave Stathers, who teaches the class, explained the Civics 11 class includes a civic action component, where students must spend a minimum of 10 hours on a major issue to change the world for the better.
This year, he and the students chose to focus on the 424-unit Banks Crescent seniors housing development, a local issue.
“It’s the most important issue in our town for a long time, maybe since the Agricultural Land Reserve land swap,” he said.
The land swap, in 2014, called for the removal of 80.34 hectares of land from the land reserve, while 91.7 hectares of land outside the land reserve would be added.
The council of the day approved the swap in the spring of 2014 but the current municipal council, elected in November of that year, reversed the decision.
Stathers said the class work on the Banks Crescent project was intended, in part, to show the public young people have a voice on this issue.
Over the course of the semester, the students visited the site, talked with neighbours, met with Mayor Peter Waterman, examined a vacant property on Wharton Street and met with community members strongly opposed to the project and strongly in favour.
Stathers said he would have liked to have brought the students to a council meeting and a public hearing on the development. However, council meetings dealing with this issue have been crowded and the public hearing has not yet been scheduled.
After examining the development, roughly half of the 21 students in the class were in favour of the development, while the rest were opposed.
They also wrote letters to the editor, explaining why they held their views on this proposal, available here:
Related: LETTER: Banks Crescent development a big risk
Related: LETTER: Development would benefit Summerland
“These kids were fully informed before they wrote their letters,” Stathers said. “Before you make important, influencing arguments, you need to be well-researched.”
He added that the students believed they were doing something important for the community by examining and learning about the development proposal.
The Civics 11 class has been offered since 2004. This is the last year it will be offered at the high school, as the curriculum is changing for next year.