Southlands in Transition

There is an argument made by the Southlands think tank team that our community of South Delta has to increase by 3,000 to 4,000 more inhabitants and that there has to be additional construction of at least 2,000 new housing units to shelter them.

For a moment, let us not dwell on the infrastructure challenges such a plan will generate, such as dealing with the couple of thousand new vehicles that will be added to our traffic, the need for more community facilities such as policing, schools, hospitals, etc.

Right now there is a large PR push to build these new units on top of agriculturally zoned farmland. This is a throwback to the bad old days, when speculators bought cheap farmland and made small fortunes by the mere process of rezoning it to residential and industrial status. Our neighbour city to the north, Richmond, has seen a huge percentage of their farmlands disappear to such Wild West development. Glaring examples are the industrial park along Horseshoe Way and the Ironwood Shopping center, both built adjacent to the South Arm of the Fraser River on top of some of the world’s best productive farmlands. The rich soils carried downstream by the Fraser over the millenniums were deposited here, forming a delta, such as the area we are named after. Alas, this land is now buried under concrete.

I attended a lecture by Detmar Schwichtenberg from Vancouver (detmar@telus.net) in October.
He is a "country" Smart Growth BC specialist and I found his plans and outlook to cope with growth in an agricultural setting a perfect fit for your Southlands.
I would wish that you get in touch with him and have him as one of your speakers at your next meeting - I think his plans and attitude would merge very well with your planning.
Ursula