“Guys who did it had no experience with chainsaws, had no harnesses on steep slope but held onto a rope”
(By News Desk)
During the month of November two to three acres of trees were cut on Block 7 of Gospel Rock, Bob Dhanda, owner and operator of Dhanda Trucking and Demolition Ltd., told The Coast Clarion.
His family business was subcontracted to do the earthworks and the sewer and water lines for the development. They worked at the development from the beginning of September until December 4.
His son Karn Dhanda, who was working at the site as well, confirmed that two to three acres were cut.
The fallen trees are still visible at different locations near the markers indicating the area to be preserved. Some of the areas are inside the boundary, some outside.
Several arbutus trees were cut as well.
“James [Wang, the contractor] first asked us to cut trees,” Dhanda Sr. said. “But we weren’t going to touch it, we’re not tree fallers. It’s dangerous if you don’t know how to do it, you never know which way the tree is going to go. And when you cut near slopes, you want to make sure the tree doesn’t slide down and do damage. So we said no.”
The contractor then hired two guys from Ladner, he said. “They were not professionals. They hadn’t used big chainsaws before, so James [Wang] showed them how to do it.”
A number of trees were cut near the very steep slope towards Gower Point Road. A yellow rope was tied to a tree so the tree fallers had something to hold onto. They did not have harnesses, the Dhanda’s told The Coast Clarion.
The two tree fallers were on the site after November 16. “We saw them there every day, from 8:30 am to 3:30 pm, cutting trees,” Dhanda Sr. said. The Dhanda’s left the site on December 4.
Some of the trees fell down the slope.
The area to be preserved was clearly marked, Dhanda Sr. said, and there was some supervision. “James and [developer] Ji Yan were at the site two or three times a week. Sometimes James helped with the cutting.”
Developer Ji Yan did not return phone calls from The Coast Clarion.
The Town says that a Stop Work Order was issued on December 21 after Diamond Head Consulting Ltd. reported damage to three trees. The Diamond Head report is not public.
Des Delaney, who worked as a consultant for the development until November 16, told The Coast Clarion that more trees will need to be cut for the sewer lines from the development to go down to Gower Point Road and to construct a water line and a 20-meter wide road from the Town to Block 7. There is also some blasting involved.
Dhanda Sr. told The Coast Clarion that contractor James Wang had asked him to do the blasting. “I told him no, we have no experience with that,” he said.
Dhanda Trucking and Demolition is involved in legal action against the developer for non-payment of invoices and a dispute over a $2.7 million contract.
The Coast Clarion incurred costs for legal advice for this story. If you can spare it, a small donation is appreciated. We are volunteers. Thank you.
A photo gallery of the present situation on Gospel Rock:
I want to thank the Coast Clarion for keeping us informed of events that affect all of us in our community and spending the time (and money) to do that. I note that you have incurred costs to bring this news to us and want to let you know that I, for one, will donate some cash to help you keep up your good work. This will be an amount that will fit my budget and I urge all of my fellow citizens to donate an amount that they can also give to ensure that the Coast Clarion continues to be a voice for all of us who want to be kept informed. Please do this now and don’t put it off.
On Gospel Rock of all places to get novices to cut trees in an area that should have been protected. We have an abundance of professional tree cutters right here in Gibsons, who by the way would know where not to cut. Those DP 1or 2 areas need a permit, with a map at the very least. Now what story is the Town going to give us? One tree down and two damaged, $900 fine? Sorry but this is a breach of public trust. The land and the people of Gibsons and Elphinstone deserve better than this Third-world attitude.
Socially responsible media reports facts, and takes great care when including the speculative campaign talking points of small, narrowly focussed special interest groups.
Once again this media platform is being used to grind axes, and generate controversy. Thank goodness we have a legitimate news source in the Coast Reporter to bring us balanced reporting and investigative journalism with integrity. Lazy journalism and fake news are a blight on society. It encourages fear based responses, and feeds the machinery of outrage and enables toxicity in social spaces and the public domain. Shame on us for being so small town gullible for falling for this crap…again.
The cost to society of this type of journalism is abundantly clear, yet we still fail to see it when it is at our own back door.
Please point out, specifically, where this article is reporting “fake news”. It all sounds believable to me!
Anne Miles – Sure it sounds believable. We trust media to investigate and report accurately, and to carefully contextualize their comments so that the reader isn’t led to a false understanding. You trusted that was happening, so didn’t notice it.
For instance, the contractor stated that he witnessed 2-3 acres of trees being cut down. How is that statement being contextualized? We’re these trees within the Development Permit area and therefore permitted to be removed? We are not told.
The article is peppered with that sort of thing, and clearly people are drawing conclusions about tree cutting on the site in the absence of complete information.
At the end of the article, right after mention of legal costs and an appeal for money, there are photos that reportedly represent “the situation” at the site? Okay, yes it is a large, mostly cleared construction site being prepared for a large development project. But without context for these photos, we don’t know anything except what we might jump to conclude. And it worked; people are jumping left, right and centre.
So think about this, we have a quote from a disgruntled contractor saying that he and his son witnessed 2-3 acres of trees being cut down, and we have photos of the apparent desecration of beloved property that was once available for recreation, and is now not, much to the chagrin of some locals.
The writer and the publication have a responsibility to the reader to provide context. There are journalistic standards, and they establish the expectation. Always the appeal for financial help comes at the very end of the story, not before photos of the strewn carcasses of murdered trees and a desolate landscape that are sure to tug at the heart strings and open the purse strings.
This is the type of shenanigans that gives media a bad name, and is what has spurred the emergence of really good, subscription based digital media, with quality, hard hitting but balanced, increasingly collaborative facts based reporting.
This is not quality of investigative journalism we deserve, and rather than attack me for pointing that out, we might instead think critically about what it is costing us as a community of social persons. There are university courses dedicated to media studies…the problem is being discussed world wide, and all of this information is available online for those who seek it.
You still haven’t told us which parts were fake.
Blowing gas per usual. You have zero idea and evidence of what you’re talking about.
Blake, thanks for putting a smile on my face. I have to admit it’s been a long time since I burst out laughing as hard as I did, when I read “Thank goodness we have a legitimate news source in the Coast Reporter to bring us balanced reporting and investigative journalism with integrity.” Not sure what version of the Coast Reporter you’re reading, but the version I see is nothing more than re-printed press releases and puff pieces promoting their advertisers. I’m not thrashing the Coast Reporter, as it’s a free publication serving a small population – they’re simply fulfilling their mandate as a for-profit community paper serving a specific market niche. But to confuse that with “balanced reporting and investigative journalism” defeats your whole argument as it only serves to give the impression that you have no idea what you’re talking about. Based on your example, I don’t believe you have a clue as to what contitutes good journalism.
This is disheartening.
Just so everyone is aware, if any trees were cut outside of the permitted area and were on Crown Land, anyone can file an official violation claim via the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Ritual Development. This process applies to anywhere on the Sunshine Coast where trees are cut down illegally and / or no permit has been Issued by either the SCRD or the Town of Gibsons.
REPORT OF NATURAL RESOURCE VIOLATION
A Report of Natural Resource Violation is information provided to the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development (FLNRORD) alleging that an unauthorized activity (a contravention of the law) has occurred or is about to occur, or a contravention of an authorization (licence, lease, etc.) has occurred.
For FLNRORD staff to adequately address your report of a Violation, it is important to provide sufficient information. Please describe the Violation in as much detail as possible on this form and then mail, email, fax or bring a copy to the nearest FrontCounter BC Location via the following website:
https://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hen/nrv/report.htm
To find out who has jurisdiction, the SCRD has an excellent mapping tool here:
https://maps.scrd.ca/