Double standards and common sense
Editor: It was with great interest and some astonishment I read several items in your newspaper of Jan. 31.
Page 3 contains an article subtitled “Township of Langley council sends proposed Fort Langley project back to the drawing board.” I find it astonishing that council would take this position on a project within heritage guidelines and with no community protests I am aware of, while it recently approved a project that was not within community guidelines and had lots of community opposition.
Councillor Charlie Fox appears to be the most vocal against the two-storey project on 96 Avenue. If my memory serves me right, he was the councillor who presented the motion to approve the Coulter Berry Building. I don’t know what to call that, but it appears to be a “double standard.”
Councillor Kim Richter comments “I do think there is something drastically wrong with our heritage guidelines.” If Richter consults the Heritage Strategy document, which council approved and adopted in the spring of 2012, she will note that the guidelines for the Fort Langley area were some time ago scheduled for review.
That process might be a good place for council members to express their feelings, instead of arbitrarily dealing with each development project according to their “likes or dislikes.”
In the same issue of your newspaper, I read Diane Kask’s letter to the editor. She is correct in stating that the pool proposed for Aldergrove is “inadequate.”
At the open house, I questioned and was told that a teenager could not dive in this pool. It is too shallow and is slightly smaller than Blair Pool. Also the financial return would be about 30 cents to the dollar spent, while Blair Pool at least returns 60 cents to the dollar, according to parks and recreation. If this design goes ahead, it is a waste of taxpayer’s money.
I’ve heard repeatedly that the current ice arena in Aldergrove has some of the best ice around. There do not appear to be any major issues with that arena. The seating capacity for the old arena and the proposed new one are exactly the same.
So in taxpayers’ interest, and with a dose of common sense — council should scratch the $33 million project. It should build a well-designed pool for half that price, and save the forest at the same time. You won’t need the money.
Grace Muller,
Langley
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