A weekly roundup of noteworthy news in municipalities across B.C.
Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts delivered her eighth State of the City Address at the Sheraton Vancouver Guildford Hotel on Wednesday afternoon, taking on the city’s issues with crime reduction, rapid transit and post-secondary education.
It’s difficult to find anyone in the Capital Region who thinks local government is perfect the way it is. Businesses, municipal councillors, developers and, most importantly, residents, know something needs to change, but that’s where the collective agreement ends. Amalgamation proposals are almost as numerous as the region’s 91 municipal politicians. But an organized and motivated group of residents is igniting a grassroots push to turn ideas into reality.
The District of Summerland has initiated a unique community engagement program to create an updated Urban Growth Strategy that responds to recent changes and emerging challenges in the area. Residents are invited to share their ideas and priorities through a range of creative activities, from online surveys and polls to family‐friendly events and community dialogues.
A local cycling advocacy group is calling for the missing link to be built for a safe bike route between New Westminster and South Vancouver. Andrew Feltham, chair of the New Westminster branch of HUB (formerly the Vancouver Area Cycling Coalition), wrote to Transportation Minister Mary Polak about the proposal, which was prompted by an exploratory ride last fall by cyclists from HUB.
Edwin Grieve commends his fellow members of the coastal regional district chairs (CRDC) for raising concerns about the ferry system in recent meetings with Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Mary Polak and with Opposition MLAs. But he says the ferry situation is a “never-ending story” that has been played out over the last two years, first with former MOTI minister Blair Lekstrom and now with Polak.
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A selected image from the Spacing Vancouver Flickr pool. Image courtesy of waferboard.