History

On Nov 20, 2012, Bear Mountain Land Holdings (BMLH) held an open house unveiling their application plan for re-zoning and the removal of 9 holes from the Mountain Course. Many residents attended the open house and the general impression was that Bear Mountain is a destination, not just another community, and that we needed to save our green space.

Brad Maclaren spoke to forming a neighbourhood/community association for the first purpose of stopping HSBC from their plans to “destroy” the golf course.  It was decided that a collaborative effort was needed to combat the proposal and stop the removal of 9 holes from the Mountain Course.

Brad organized an informal meeting between interested community members, including directors John Elwood, Marilyn Ray, Brian Dunne and Joanne Maclaren, to create a move-forward strategy and set a date inviting interested community members to join the effort.

On December 11, 2012, a meeting was held in the common area at Finlayson Reach with approximately 75 people attending. At this time, a core group of people was organized to move forward, including directors Renée Olson and Jim Armstrong.

Door to door campaigning soon commenced and was met with a resounding and positive response from the community. Petitions were signed and letters were sent to the municipality opposing the proposed down-zoning and subsequent removal of 9 holes from the Mountain Course.  The municipality had never before been faced with such an organized letter-writing campaign.

On May 24th, 2013, BMLH finally put Bear Mountain Resort on the market.  Recognizing that new ownership was around the corner allowed Bear Mountain Community Association (BMCA) a cautious sigh of relief.

To assure continued advocacy on behalf of Bear Mountain residents, BMCA was formalized and registered under the Society Act on July 17, 2013,  knowing there is strength in community.