New Brighton Dock Update - June 2023

The New Brighton Dock Committee (NBDC) was formed by the Gambier Island Community Association (GICA) in 2020 to provide a community voice and help to develop a strategy to ensure safe, long-term public access to the New Brighton dock.
At the outset we reiterated we have not taken on, and will not take on, responsibility for managing or maintaining the New Brighton dock. These are the responsibility of the Squamish Nation New Brighton Dock Ltd. which is part of N’Ch Kay Development Corporation (N’Ch Kay), the economic development arm of the Squamish Nation.
Please forward all maintenance requests to 604 987 4113 (Mosquito Creek).
Our last update was posted on the New Brighton dock on May 2022. Since then:-

• We have continued to communicate with the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) regarding a public process to determine options for supporting the New Brighton dock as the critical and primary access point for the Southwest Peninsula. The SCRD has secured a staff position to lead this process and who, we understand, has been in regular contact with representatives of the dock’s owner. 
• Late this past winter, with the support and financial contribution of the dock’s owner, the SCRD arranged a structural inspection of New Brighton dock to determine the condition and safety of the current structure. We are advised the dock is deemed safe to use.
• N’ch Kay replaced some timbers on the wharf and did a trial repair to a small section of the upper part of the ramp.
• March 28 was our first meeting with the Sunshine Coast Regional District staff to introduce ourselves and give them a sense of how important the New Brighton dock is to us. We were told then that:-
• N’Ch Kay corporation continues to pursue the Provincial water tenure applications in which sit the barge ramp and the New Brighton dock.
• N’Ch Kay has the New Brighton dock inspection report which is at present not for distribution while they review it. The SCRD stays in regular touch with them.
• The SCRD is continuing to research options for the future of the dock and keeps the New Brighton dock committee updated. For the time being SCRD actions are on hold waiting for N’Ch Kay direction.
• Barbara Miklashek, Kate-Louise Stamford, Joley Switzer and the Gambier Island Community Association have recently relayed urgent maintenance requests to the owner.
• We have been recently advised by SCRD staff that the owner is now willing to meet directly with a small group of the New Brighton Dock Committee to discuss the situation. Accordingly, we have written to the owner and hope to arrange a meeting in the near future.

The New Brighton Dock Committee will continue to keep you informed of any developments about this critically important initiative.