Dunvegan Disturbance - Revisited Yet Again

According to the "Save Dunvegan Gardens" Facebook page the situation at our little local greenhouse on Draper Road is escalating rapidly. It appears that bylaw officers are now preventing trucks from exiting and entering the greenhouse, particularly if the trucks appear to be engaged in any business other than the delivery of fresh plants (and there are dark rumblings that those trucks are being stopped, too). I drove out to Dunvegan Tuesday and while I did not see any bylaw vehicles on Draper Road there were two parked at the Legion Hall in Waterways. Coincidence, perhaps, and perhaps not.

This escalation saddens me to no end. I have written before that I have sympathy for the residents of Draper Road, and I continue to hold that sympathy - but I also fear for our only greenhouse. This issue isn't just polarizing the residents of that area but the residents of the entire city. There are those who side with the unhappy Draper Road residents, and those who side with Dunvegan Gardens. There are those, like me, who don't really side with anyone but who really, really like gardening and who would be very sad to see the end of Dunvegan in our city. I realize that according to some Draper Road residents that there is no compromise to be sought or found. I continue to harbour hope that some resolution will be found, though, as otherwise it's going to be a very long spring and summer for those residents, Dunvegan Gardens, and all of us who make the drive out there to buy our plants and gardening essentials.

I must admit I am a little surprised at how little coverage this story has received in our local newspapers. Most of the news I have heard recently has come from the Save Dunvegan page and from anecdotes from those who have been out on Draper. Why so little coverage of what is truly shaping up to be quite a big story? Is it because this is a story with no easy answers and where no one is likely to walk away happy? I don't know, but I think this issue deserves some serious coverage from the local media. I don't think it's going to go away any time soon, and the closer we get to gardening season the more intense I suspect it will become. I have no idea how it will play out in the end - but I hope that whatever the outcome we are not less one treasured greenhouse  business in our community as a result.