Mayors unite to manage growth boom
As people move south and east of Vancouver, four towns gear up to manage the onslaught
BY GLENDA LUYMES
FRASER VALLEY REPORTER
Brace yourself for the big boom. Experts are forecasting a population explosion over the next 25 years, with 68 per cent of the growth in Metro Vancouver and he Fraser Valley centred in Surrey, Abbotsford, Langley Township and Coquitlam.
“We’re starting a journey as we see the population moving east and south of Vancouver,” said Coquitlam Mayor Maxine Wilson. “We’re a region that’s no longer Vancouvercentric.”
In a room overlooking central Surrey Friday morning, mayors of the four high-growth cities signed an agreement called the Livability Accord, committing their communities to sustainable growth in the face of a number of challenges.
Experts predict the four communities will grow at an average rate of 20,000 people per year, or about 500,000 people in 25 years.
Between 250,000 to 300,000 new jobs will need to be created to keep up with the growth.
“As you can see, this is a daunting task,” said Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts.
Other challenges include:
■ Urban sprawl: “We want a balance between population and job growth,” said Langley Township Mayor Kurt Alberts. “We don’t want to be a bedroom community.”
Abbotsford Mayor George Ferguson said “boundaries and maps don’t mean a thing” when it comes to community planning. “We need to think of this as a whole region and how we can work together to get services provided.”
Planners must focus on creating “walkable” communities that allow people to live, work and shop in one place and reduce dependency on vehicles, he added.
■ Land use: “There really is a region-wide shortage of industrial land,” said Alberts. “While there’s some friendly competition to attract businesses to our different communities, I think most of us are really trying to find the best use of the limited land we have. There’s not acres and acres of industrial land available anymore. That’s one of the issues we can hopefully come to grips with and develop some strategies to deal with.”
Communities are also restricted by the Agricultural Land Reserve.
■ Transportation: The impact of plans to twin the Port Mann Bridge remains to be seen, and the mayors applauded the idea of better transit linking Abbotsford and Langley to SkyTrain in Surrey.
■ Social issues: Rapid growth means crime and homelessness can easily grow out of control. Keeping up with policing and social housing are key issues for cash-strapped municipalities, said Watts.
■ Funding: Communities feel the high cost of rapid growth has been unfairly downloaded on to municipalities from other levels of government.
“When we have high growth and we’re moving as quickly as we can, the infrastructure has to be put in place. It can’t just fall on the municipalities alone,” said Watts.
Ferguson pointed to the risk of flooding on the Fraser River last spring.
“We made the province and the federal government take notice,” he said, referring to the poor condition of dikes. “When we speak with a common voice, things happen.”
At the end of the signing, Surrey Newton MLA Harry Bains said “it only makes sense that communities start to plan ahead.”
But the NDP Olympics critic also said local councils will need to think long term rather than “election to election.”
“If they consider the long-term benefit of the region, I think this can be more than just pretty words on paper,” he said.
By signing the accord, the four communities committed to sustainable land use, transportation and transit infrastructure, public safety infrastructure and to developing new relationships between other levels of government. Reports will be made to each council quarterly, with a view to have sustainable strategies and a work plan in place by September 2008.
Watts said signing the accord will have a positive impact on residents’ lives.
“All of these things affect quality of life,” she said. “We want to pull everything together and identify where there are gaps, and then have a strategy to address that.”
“We are at a crossroads,” added Ferguson. “The question is: Will this remain one of the most livable regions in the world?
The Schacter Team - Langley Real Estate