Fire Chief Rick Jackson is hopeful a new gate will soon be installed to keep vehicles out of the Crestwood entrance to the 707 Community Park.

At the August 1 Gabriola Fire Protection Improvement District (GFPID) board meeting at Fire Hall #1, Jackson said he had been in discussion with Regional District of Nanaimo (RDN) staff about installing the gate. “This is the one I really want to get in”, Jackson said, adding that they have installed two gates already.

The entrance to the park crosses private land, Jackson said. He said that although historically the RDN won’t install a gate on private property “they would be willing to put this gate up on the top of the property where the 707 acreage starts”. However, he said, he talked to the property owner, who  would be “happy to have that gate put up at the beginning of his property”.

“At this point”, Jackson said, “even if we have to pay for it, it’s worth getting, but I’m still hopeful that we’ll get the RDN to cough up some of the money – possibly half”.