November 4, 2013 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
What’s The Rush? Vancouver Communities Question Rapid Rate of Development
Vancouver, B.C. – The City of Vancouver is accepting proposals and approving residential construction five times faster than their own projections demand.
According to the Regional Context Statement approved by Vancouver City Council in June this year, the planners anticipate that Vancouver will see an increase of 153,800 people in the thirty-five years from 2006 to 2041 – a rate of an additional 4,350 people per year.
It is this expected increase of 153,800 people that the City says demands the densification plans they have been pushing.
However, since 2011, the city has already proposed or approved sufficient new housing to accommodate 43,000 people. In just two years, this planned housing satisfies 28% of the growth the city projects being required over the next 35 years.
This rapid pace is not justified by the city’s own projections. Continuing at this blistering pace of development, the city will reach its own 2041 targets by 2019, twenty-two years ahead of schedule.
Coalition of Vancouver Neighbourhoods spokesperson Jak King noted that “these numbers do not include any units that were approved between 2006 and 2011 for which we do not have figures but which we believe add significantly to this total.” The Coalition of Vancouver Neighbourhoods represents community associations across the City, and is seeking a new and more respectful and involved relationship between the City and its neighbourhoods.
“The Coalition supports well-planned, reasonably-paced growth, with developments that are aligned with the interests of local communities,” said co-chair Fern Jeffries. “We want our local communities to be a respected and influential part of the process, to ensure that the increased density is consistent with neighbourhood plans and maintains good livability for its residents.”
By any measure, the current rate of development greatly exceeds the City’s own projected requirements. The Coalition of Vancouver Neighbourhoods therefore asks the City, why is it pursuing this unsustainably rapid pace of development so aggressively and so unilaterally?
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About the Coalition of Vancouver Neighbourhoods
The Coalition of Vancouver Neighbourhoods comprises nineteen community residents’ associations who share a common interest in collaborating with the City of Vancouver.
Arbutus Ridge Community Association Citygate Intertower Group Crosstown Residents Association Downtown Eastside Neighbourhood Council Downtown South/Yaletown
Dunbar Residents Association False Creek Residents Association Grandview Woodland Area Council Kits Point Residents Association Marpole Residents Coalition
Norquay Residents NW Point Grey Home Owners Association Oakridge Langara Area Residents Residents Association Mount Pleasant Riley Park/South Cambie Visions Strathcona Residents Association West End Neighbours West Kitsilano Residents Association West Point Grey Residents Association
We encourage residents to join and become involved with their local associations, and we invite all such associations to join us in this Coalition.
For further information:
Jak King (GWAC) jakking@shaw.ca Phone: 604-253-6232
Fern Jeffries (FCRA) fern@me.com Phone: 604-328-7097
Jonathan Weisman (DRA) jjweisman@gmail.com Phone: 778-899-5665
Albert Leung (MRC) Chinese news media contact albertyeungywg@yahoo.ca
