July 30, 2010
Peace Valley Lookout to Become Park

FORT ST. JOHN – The Peace Valley Lookout is on its way to becoming a regional park thanks to $12,602 from the Province in an effort to stimulate land development and economic activity by encouraging remediation of brownfield sites.

“Our residents love the outdoors, so I know another park in the area will get a lot of use. And this lookout is one of the most gorgeous views in the entire valley and will be admired for many years to come,” says Peace River North MLA Pat Pimm. “This program is great because it takes land that is otherwise unused, cleans it up and provides a great place for people to go outside.”

The Peace Valley Lookout is a well known vantage point providing amazing views of the Peace River Valley with an unfortunate past as an informal garbage dump.  Upon completion of environmental investigations and possible remediation, the lookout will be turned into a regional park through the Brownfield Renewal Funding Program.

Brownfields are abandoned, vacant, derelict, or underutilized commercial and industrial properties, where past actions have resulted in actual or perceived contamination. These are sites that have great potential for redevelopment when the issue of contamination is addressed.

In March 2007, the Province announced its Brownfield Renewal Strategy, which included the multi-million Brownfield Renewal Funding Program. In April 2010, the Province announced the third intake for the program and applicants were invited to apply by May 19, 2010. Last year the program approved 17 projects totalling over $1.6 million.

The B.C. Brownfield Renewal Strategy is designed to encourage more brownfield redevelopment across British Columbia. The strategy helps reduce risk and uncertainty in brownfield redevelopment.  The funding program supports the initial environmental work by providing up to $40,000 for preliminary site investigations and up to $125,000 for other types of environmental work. Eligible applicants include First Nations, local governments, non-profits, private companies and individuals.

For more information on the the BC Brownfield Renewal Strategy, please visit www.brownfieldrenewal.gov.bc.ca.

To learn more about Pat’s work in Peace River North, visit his website at www.patpimmmla.bc.ca.

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