Dear Editor,
The optimism regarding development in Brookswood/Fernridge is gaining momentum. “About time”, “Let’s get on with it”, seems to be on the lips of many people who have been impressed by the recent large lot subdivision applications.
As more and more people with open minds receive accurate information, and as the items on the list of false propaganda are debunked one by one, the naysayers appear to be running out of excuses to hang their hats on.
Take trees, for example. Quantity is not always better than quality. The term ‘significant tree’ is somewhat misleading. It just means that a tree is above a certain minimum height and diameter. It does not mean that a tree is healthy or that it will survive for very long. The number of healthy replacement, and more desireable, trees are always many times more than the number of healthy trees to be displaced. British Columbia has successfully harvested millions of trees and replanted millions more.
As a last ditch effort, a number of people who are against any kind of development, are saying, “wait for a new OCP”. Will they actually vote for a new OCP ? Or is it just politics to delay development?
You don’t put everything on hold when you buy a lottery ticket, because you might not win. You can’t put all development on hold waiting for a new OCP, because it might not be adopted.
Some people who wish to put development on hold may shout the loudest, but their claim that the majority agree with them is not true. The support in favour of development expressed at the public information meetings and the majority of speakers at the public hearings is testament to that.
Misinformation plays a key role in the arsenal of the anti-development people, but NIMBYism is probably their main weapon, as Mr. Matthew Claxton so eloquently explains in the Langley Advance’ under his column Painful Truth: Perverse incentives drive housing on June 30, 2016.
It is truly sad when the opponents of development find their positions are not well founded and when they feel there will be any progress on the development front, they resort to vandalism. As demonstrated by the vandalized development sign on the property at the corner of 36th Avenue and 205th Street.
Development in Brookswood/Fernridge is a welcome relief to many who want to see progress and more housing inventory at a time when it is sorely needed. Change is constant and we must flow with the times and the evolving needs of our community. The silent majority needs to Township council know that they agree with moving forward on development in Brookswood Fernridge.
Mohan Virk, Brookswood