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Family donates property for West Bench parkland

Bonin family donates 3.4-hectare parcel of land to regional district
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Walter Bonin and his family have donated a 3.4-hectare piece of land in the West Bench to the Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen to be preserved as parkland. The family has been living in West Bench for more than 50 years.

A family that has called the West Bench home for more than half a century has donated a piece of land to be used as a park.

Sunshine highlighted the clay bank benches on the 3.4-hectare parcel on Tuesday that the Bonin family donated to the Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen.

“For 50 years this has been my father’s vista and we spent our summers and whenever we could tramping through the clay banks,” said Jane Boyd, whose father Walter Bonin donated the land. “Nowadays everything seems to be developed before you can blink an eye and we are all so pleased we can leave something behind for generations to come.”

In 2009 the Bonin family announced they wanted to donate the land to the RDOS to be used as a park. The property is behind 320 Newton Dr. and described as wedge-shaped with a deep gully overlooking Okanagan Lake right along the Kettle Valley Railroad Trail.

“I’m just happy with the way things all turned out,” said Bonin. “I enjoyed living here.”

Bonin told the Penticton Western News in 2009 that he would one day like to see a baseball diamond on the plot of land that he said is close to a sewer hookup and possibly could have a secondary road down to the highway.

“The West Bench is a beautiful development, but it is also great to have a little chunk of it right in the middle that is pristine. We all very much appreciate this generous donation. It will be a huge asset,” said RDOS Area F director Michael Brydon.