Oak Bay Council is currently deciding the next steps for the Oak Bay Marina (Turkey Head/Spewhung Point) lands.

This is one of the most significant long-term decisions facing Oak Bay. The District of Oak Bay owns the marina lands and leases the foreshore/aquatic area from the Province, while the current marina lease with Oak Bay Marine Group expires in December 2027.

The District has now launched an Expressions of Interest (EOI) process for future marina operations, including Songhees Nation, Xwsepsum Nation and Oak Bay Marine Group, while broader community engagement on the long-term future of the site has been paused until an operator is secured.

Given the importance of this publicly owned waterfront asset, we believe Oak Bay residents deserve clear, accessible information about the process, the scope of the current EOI, the financial and governance questions involved, and the future of the full marina site, including the restaurant, coffee shop, parking area, marina buildings and water lot.

A much researched, in-depth and shared briefing about the future of the Oak Bay Marina (Spewhung/Turkey Head) prepared by one of our residents is being distributed by neighbourhood groups and associations in consideration of a June 15th public consultation. It is well worth the read and a valuable reference going forward.

Residents are encouraged to review both the District’s official project description on Oak Bay Connect, as well as the OBNN briefing document linked below.

You can view the District’s consultation page HERE.

You can read the community briefing document HERE.

The Oak Bay Neighbourhood Network was introduced to the community in the Oak Bay News on December 30, 2025. You can read the full article HERE.

In the Council meeting held on December 11, 2025, after the Public Hearing earlier in the week, Oak Bay Council voted to approve the OCP with a split 4-3 vote, with Mayor Murdoch and Councillors Hazel Braithwaite, Cairine Green and Esther Paterson voting in favour of the plan. Select quotes from the Council members voting in favour: 

Mayor Murdoch: "...I'm very very clear that all the input received through the formal process right through public hearing is being considered;" "...[The draft OCP] had overwhelming support at the public hearing;" "...[it's] a reasonable compromise between the demands of the province and the kind of housing that we want in the community."

Councillor Braithwaite: "a thoughtful... community built OCP;"  "a reasonable middle ground, especially on the general location of density in our community;" "We've heard our community clearly and I believe this OCP honours that direction."

Councillor Green: "It meets housing targets. It provides significantly more capacity. It creates new diverse housing options.…" 

Councillor Paterson: "a moderate way to implement housing density in Oak Bay;"[Residents] support a reasoned approach to implementing change in the community they love...we have arrived at the right model."

Councillors Andrew Appleton, Carrie Smart and Lesley Watson voted against the revised plan as they had at earlier stages.  Select quotes from the Council members voting against the OCP: 

Councillor Appleton: "I do not believe [it] represents what the community has provided input to;"  "[It] is fundamentally regressive in terms of meeting the housing goals that we need to achieve." "It discards the public's input."

Councillor Smart: "...[If] the true goal here is to limit change, to prioritize the comfort of those who are already secure in their housing, and if that is the goal, then this plan does achieve that."

Councillor Watson: "This process effectively discarded the staff and consultants' careful analysis...;" "This plan is not strongly supported across the community...." 

You can view the full statements from Council members HERE , starting at the 31 minute mark.

The full OCP can be accessed HERE.

The Oak Bay Neighbourhood Network was introduced to the community in the Times Colonist on November 26, 2025. You can read the full article HERE.

On November 18, 2025, The Oak Bay Neighbourhood Network issued a media release regarding our launch. It can be accessed HERE.

During September 2025, The District of Oak Bay performed a public engagement process on the current Active Transportation Strategy. This included a series of workshops, as well as an online questionnaire.

This information has now been analyzed, and a “What We Learned” report has been published. That can be accessed HERE.

The Executive Summary can be found HERE.

The District is hosting an Open House on Thursday, November 13, 2025 from 6-9pm at The Windsor Park Pavillon. The purpose of this session is to review the updated proposed routes and priorities as well as provide feedback. You can view the documents that will be presented for feedback at the open house HERE.

A questionnaire to provide feedback on the updated routes and priorities is open until November 28. We encourage Oak Bay residents to fill it out. You can find it HERE (centre of the page).

Council met on Monday, November 3, 2025 for a Special Council Meeting on the topic of the Official Community Plan Revision. This meeting reviewed the “What We Heard” reports from community engagement (questionnaires, open houses and webinar) as well as reviewed Staff recommendations for moving forward.

The agenda can be reviewed HERE.

Main Conclusions
Reduced density: At Mayor Murdoch's suggestion, Council started by reverting to the zoning in Oak Bay's current Official Community Plan (2014) and then adding density only where they felt it was required, rather than beginning with the massive increase in density proposed by staff and the Vancouver-based consultants and subtracting from that.

That meant that after a long series of Council motions, the proposed increase in density was a small fraction of what had been recommended going into the meeting, and largely restricted to main transportation corridors. 

Provincial requirements met: According to Oak Bay planning staff, this additional density satisfies the Provincial requirements on creating sufficient housing "capacity" in the near term. Council has now explicitly committed to working with UVic on the university's offer to build all 3,761 units in Oak Bay's 20-year provincial housing target on its Cedar Hill Corner property.  

A split decision from Council: Voting through the evening was split, with Mayor Murdoch and Councillors Hazel Braithwaite, Cairine Green and Esther Paterson voting in alignment of community feedback, and reducing the density surge to only what they felt was absolutely necessary, as well as ensuring that UVic's potential to take on all the additional housing Oak Bay requires is fully explored and accounted for in Oak Bay's plans for the future.

Councillors Appleton, Smart and Watson voted against motions to decrease the proposed density, arguing it was "what the community wanted," and opposing the Mayor's approach and every motion to implement it. At the end of that section of the agenda, they tried to reverse the earlier decisions and restore all of the large-scale multi-unit and three-storey townhouse density that staff and the consultant had recommended coming into the meeting. That motion was defeated by yet another 4-3 vote.   

What comes next?
There is more process to come-- 1st and 2nd readings of the OCP bylaw on November 17, a public hearing on the OCP bylaw in the first week of December and approval before December 31 as required by the Province, as well as a report on the zoning bylaws that would be provided in early 2026 (and which would appear to begin to confirm the direction with UVic).