A petition has been delivered to the legislature urging the government to move forward with stalled plans to build a new RCMP detachment in the south end of the Cowichan Valley.

The petition, with approximately 1,000 signatures, was delivered by Sonia Furstenau, the Green MLA for the Valley.

“It is essential that the citizens of this area have the services they need,” said Furstenau.

“I am proud to be delivering this petition on behalf of the residents of Cowichan in hopes that the government will not deprive citizens of their community’s RCMP detachment.”

The existing Shawnigan Lake RCMP detachment is in need of rebuilding. The Cowichan Valley Regional District has already transferred a one-hectare piece of property, located on Shawnigan Mill Bay Road near the Trans Canada Highway, to the RCMP for the project.

But the previous Liberal government delayed plans for the new detachment and began exploring whether the North and South Cowichan detachments should be amalgamated.

A final decision from the province is expected later this month.

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Furstenau said the Cowichan Valley is large geographic region, and its population is growing.

“The South Cowichan detachment spends much of its time responding to problems on the Malahat,” she said.

“Removing RCMP presence from the south end would put a highway potentially full of traffic between citizens facing emergencies and their first responders. This presents an unacceptable risk to the community. I am urging the Solicitor General to go ahead with the original plan to rebuild the South Cowichan detachment on the land the CVRD has already provided for it.”