Burnside Gorge Rally Together as a Community Against Crime

One poor decision after another by the City of Victoria and BC Housing led to the decimation of Burnside Gorge's safety. 

Topaz Park and the Pandora Corridor Tent Cities, begin to fail. 

The crime rate is climbing. Deaths from the opioid crisis took more lives than the real threat: COVID 19. 

Homeless camps and shelters begin to form directly across from the Rock Bay Landing and inside Beacon Hill Park. 

As BC Housing and City of Victoria panicked to find a solution, they began to decamp the Tent Cities. 

Hastily the City of Victoria focused on finding hotels in Victoria, with little consideration for locating hotels in the neighbouring municipalities. 

These ill-planned decisions eventually lead to the rental and purchase of several hotels.

The Travelodge on Gorge Rd East, Comfort Inn on Blanshard, and the Rock Bay Landing form a triangle.

Now dubbed the "Triangle of Crime;" the criminal element is thriving.

The VicPD and Municipal workers are overwhelmed. Seizing stolen items is a full-time task.

Most of the items recovered (such as bicycles) have been chopped, stripped, and destroyed. 

Neighbours go to bed at night only to wake up to their valuables missing from sheds, fenced-in yards, and vehicles.

Thankfully a concerned group of neighbours decided to take action back in April. Meanwhile, BC Housing and City of Victoria's strategies began to implode. 

Concerned neighbours formed "Burnside Gorge Neighbours." 

The group's inception began around the formation of this petition, along with countless conversations amongst neighbours. 

Two significant changes were the original intent of the Gorge-Rd-East petition at change.org. 

1. Stop the eviction of the existing tenants of the Travelodge; and

2. Demanding that City of Victoria and BC Housing find a better solution to the homeless situation. 

Namely not moving the homeless into a community already saturated with approximately 80% of Greater Victoria's affordable housing.  

A lot has changed within Burnside Gorge. Though as a community, we have risen to the newfound threat to our very safety and livelihood.

The dedicated team at Burnside Gorge Neighbours is working hand-in-hand with VicPD to raise the awareness of Block Watch.

 "Neighbours looking out for neighbours; the second set of eyes on your home."

VicPD has never seen a community band together so strongly as Burnside Gorge. Applications for Block Watch are flowing into VicPD at an accelerated rate.

This level of interest has lead to an increase in police presence and resources. 

Cst. Sean Hand has three separate officers focused on identifying the gaps and barriers. One at each the Travelodge, the Howard Johnson, and the Comfort Inn.

Officers are on duty to respond to any 911 call. The criminal element should now be scared. 

Although Burnside Gorge Neighbours still has crime occur several times a day, there is hope. 

Burnside Gorge Neighbours wants a safe community. 

 "Everyone has a right to feeling safe in their homes."

The criminal element plays one of the most significant threats to the community. 

There are long-term solutions to the homeless situation. One of them is a distributed housing model. 

Burnside Gorge Neighbour is becoming more laser-focused by the day, as are there vision and goals. 

If you'd like to learn more about what Burnside Gorge Neighbours is doing, please email 

info@burnsidegorge.com

Or follow, share, like, and comment on Social Media.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/BurnsideGorgeNeighbours/

https://www.twitter.com/burnsidegorge

https://www.burnsidegorge.com/