The Cowichan Valley School Board is expressing concern about the location of a new wellness and recovery centre 鈥� including a safe-injection site 鈥� saying it鈥檚 too close to a number of schools and a well-used student route.
The Cowichan Wellness and Recovery Centre, set to provide services for people dealing with addiction and mental-health problems, would be within two blocks of Alexander Elementary, Quamichan School, Cowichan Secondary School and a soon-to-be-relocated Strong Start early-childhood-development program.
鈥淚t is concerning because it鈥檚 a traffic flow in this area whereby our students would pass the new location,鈥� said board chairwoman Candace Spilsbury, who pointed out that there is already a facility for the homeless in the area called Warmland House.
The centre would attract even more people seeking services, said Spilsbury, who emphasized that the board sees the need for the facility, but just takes issue with the location.
Spilsbury said she is a member of the Cowichan Leadership Group, which advocated for the centre.
鈥淪o we鈥檙e very supportive of having those services for our people in the valley,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just the location is not a good one given the protection of our children.鈥�
She said the school board was not consulted on the location.
Island Health said in a statement that it is aware of concerns about the centre鈥檚 location.
鈥淲e are committed to working with the broader Cowichan Valley community to address the broad societal challenges associated with mental health and substance use,鈥� the statement said.
鈥淲e are also committed to working directly with immediate neighbours and stakeholders to address any questions that might arise.
鈥淚sland Health has recently met with community members to hear their concerns and we will continue discussions with them and other stakeholders.鈥�