Urban sprawl continues
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Updated: November 04, 2009 3:18 PM
Dear Editor:
Within a seven day period, Okanagan College premiered its design for a new sustainable building for the Penticton Campus, Gibsons, B.C. won an international award for being the most livable community based on its sustainable development practices, and the Summerland town council held a public forum on a development proposal for Rattlesnake Mountain.
With the first two events, I felt like a curtain was pulled aside to give a glimpse into the future. The latter was like entering a time warp. Urban sprawl is a planning philosophy that was in vogue at the end of the second world war and beyond. We have amassed a significant body of knowledge about its shortcomings.
Although I concede having limited knowledge about the OCP, it appears to be a budget for land use. Like any budget, it has a provision whereby resources can be reallocated provided that they can be taken from another area. Council has determined that it has the right to remove this provision. It does not plan to compensate for the land it wishes to change into the urban growth area. If this were money instead of land, citizens would not be agreeable.
We need a land budget that provides allocations for all the different uses necessary for a healthy, diverse community, and that includes a certain allocation of undeveloped or minimally developed lands for the future.
The Rattlesnake Mountain development proposal has a far greater carbon footprint then densification of the core. Canada is signatory to international treaties to reduce carbon emissions.
If Gibsons can be an international role model, why can’t Summerland?
Diane Henderson
Summerland
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