Dear Editor,
Well, it is official, I have applied online to be a part of the Brookswood-Fernridge Neighbourhood Planning Team. I have signed up multiple times before regarding similar tasks never to be chosen by a closed door voting process handled by council, in the back chambers.
I have reached out to the mayor and council of the TOL by sending them individual emails and have expressed my wanting to be involved in helping shape one of the last beautiful areas that isn’t part of the ALR. I have pointed out I fit more than one of the criteria they are looking for, and believe it is time I was picked.
I don’t have a problem with Brookswood being developed, but I want it to be done right the first time. I have been following this whole process now for six years, and I want my voice heard by not only council, but planning staff as well. I have been to meetings, I have participated in surveys, I have sat and walked through all of the public engagement seminars, and I am wondering what more can I possibly do to show mayor and council I belong on this planning team? The last similar planning team they formed had multiple people miss multiple meetings. Well guess what, I will at least show up for every single one.
I pleaded my case in emails to mayor and council, and guess what, only three out of the nine even bothered to email me back acknowledging my interest in this matter. I am not going to say who the three were, as I know most people who have been following these issues with council and Brookswood will have a pretty good guess who they are. Two of the people who didn’t care enough to reply even live near me in the Brookswood Fernridge area.
I sent emails to all these people before the election, and all of them replied (regarding the high rate of crime in this area), now that they have been voted in, and are cashing their paycheques and rewarding themselves with numerous perks, now they don’t seem to have time to answer a simple email.
The three that have replied back to me seem to be the ones who actually care about what happens in the near future to Brookswood/Fernridge. I have reached out to the other six once again asking for a reply, a thought, or even to say that they received my email. Will any of the six elected officials bother to acknowledge me, do they even care about what is about to come, or are they just more concerned about picking their friends and developers that gave to their campaigns?
It’s time this council truly becomes more transparent. It is time this council listens to its residents, and it is time for this council to do the right thing and think about how they treat us taxpayers and this jewel of an area we call home.
Brookswood should not end up like Willoughby, horrible unfinished roads, lack of mature trees, overcrowding, parking issues, school portables, high taxes for tiny condos, increased crime rate, and no mixed use commercial residential.
I want to look out for the area I first moved to in 1983. I want people in this area to feel good about what is going on, and it is high time this council puts me on this planning team so a feeling of trust between council and residents can finally start to be established.
Scott Thompson, Langley
P.S. If elected to be on this planning team, I will bring snacks! (Everyone likes snacks.)