anabolic frolic

Malahats threaten night closure of road after raves shut down

Christina Martens
Times Colonist (Victoria)


Saturday, August 10, 2002

DUNCAN -- The Malahat First Nation is barring non-aboriginals from using a recreation area after complaints from Mill Bay residents led to the shutdown of rave parties in a band-owned gravel pit.

If the Mill Bay residents don't stop pushing the band, Chief Malden Harry said, it also will bar non-aboriginals from using Mill Bay Road after the Brentwood ferry stops running each day.

"We've got a whole pile of complaints due to the raves, so we held the last one Aug. 3," Harry said. "We're trying to get better things going on, but I've closed off access to Verdier Point (recreation area) because they forced our hand."

Verdier Point is about 11/2 kilometres north of the Brentwood Bay ferry landing, on the Mill Bay side. Upwards of 100 people a day visit the prime picnic location. The band has no plans to block the ferry service, he said, but noted the Brentwood terminal is on band land and the band receives no compensation for it.

Harry said that closing access to Verdier Point stems from a long history of Mill Bay residents telling the band what it can and can't do.

The rental money from the raves was helping to pay the band's debts, Harry said.

Three raves have been held this summer. Upwards of 1,500 people have been attending the all-night dance parties. Harry wouldn't say how much the band was paid for each event.

The noise triggered complaints from Deep Cove to Brentwood Bay. Police said they couldn't do anything to stop the raves, so the residents started making moves to get a court injunction to stop the parties. Now they're considering proceeding with an injunction to make sure the raves stay stopped.

If that happens, Harry said, the band will close the portion of Mill Bay Road running through the Malahat Reserve. Staff at the Ministry of Transportation is investigating whether the band would be within its rights to do that.

The noise from the raves "was terrible," said North Saanich resident Tom Stockdill. "It might as well have been next door." He and his neighbours started complaining to police, the band and the Department of Indian Affairs.

"I was being kept up at night," said Julie Macdonald, whose home is about a mile from the gravel pit.

Shawnigan Lake RCMP Sgt. Dave Free said he could hear the raves at his home.

"Regional district noise bylaws don't apply to federal land, so we looked into the possibility of proceeding with charges under the Criminal Code."

But Crown counsel told police an individual would have to be charged.

"Since it's not the band causing the disturbance and it's not the organizer causing the disturbance, that leaves the DJ. And what do you think would happen if I sent in one or two of my members to charge the DJ and pull the plug on the party?" said Free.

Police checked vehicles at the entrance to the gravel pit but didn't find anyone carrying drugs or alcohol.

"Really, the only complaints we've had are about the noise," Free said. "This is just one of those cases where we really can't do anything about it."

The Mill Bay residents group started talking to a lawyer about going to civil court.

Veronica Nicholson, 52, and her husband attended all but one of the raves. Nicholson, who lives in Mill Bay, said she has no problem with the dance parties.

"Sometimes I can't hear (the noise) at all, and for the most part it's fairly muffled if you're away from the site," she said.

Anne Bomford, Mill Bay/Malahat Director for the Cowichan Valley Regional District (CVRD), said, "Some people I know can hear it very clearly, others can't hear it at all. I can't hear it from my home."

Bomford said Randy Daniels, a spokesman for the Malahat band, has assured her that there will be no more raves.

"I'm grateful that they've listened to the community," she said.

Closing off the access to Verdier Point was not mentioned, she said. "I think the band should talk to the community about that but ... I also think the community should be willing to talk to the band."

Stockdill said he's cautiously optimistic that the raves will stop, but "If there are any more, we will proceed civilly."

© Copyright 2002 Times Colonist (Victoria)