The City of Parksville will close its online survey on the use of plastic shopping bags at the end of the night Thursday, Nov. 30, 2017. — NEWS file photo

Parksville residents with opinions on the banning of plastic bags — or retaining them — are down to their final few hours to affect potential deliberation by city council.

The city’s public survey on single-use, plastic shopping bags closes at 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 30.

The results of the survey will help council to decide whether there is public support for a citywide ban on the single-use bags in Parksville.

The motion to survey the public on a possible ban of plastic bags for environmental reasons was brought by Coun. Kirk Oates in council’s Sept. 18 meeting. Noting plastic bag bans have been put in place in some North American jurisdictions and that a ban on single-use carryout bags was being discussed by Qualicum Beach council, Oates said the issue was going to “come on our radar sooner than later.

“When I campaigned to be on council, one of the things I said was that I would listen to the public before I made any decisions,” he said.

The city is hoping to gather as much input as possible from both consumers and retail merchants by the month-end deadline.

A similar survey by the Parksville and District Chamber of Commerce for its membership has also been undertaken this fall. In response to a query from Mayor Marc Lefebvre, PDCC executive director Kim Burden, who also sits on Parksville city council, said he would share the chamber’s survey results with council.

To take the survey, visit www.surveymonkey.com/r/Parksville, or link through the city’s website at www.parksville.ca.

— NEWS staff