Dear Editor,
[RE: Maple Ridge council approves controversial riverfront subdivision, June 23, The News]
I am dismayed at how some councillors and the mayor have chosen to ignore public opinion on this issue.
This is not just any land use issue, it is an environmentally sensitive area that needed the full input from knowledgeable groups such as Katzie and Alouette River Management Society (ARMS).
RELATED STORY: Katzie ‘will not be standing down,’ oppose riverfront subdivision
So, I ask you is this a democracy or not?
Apparently not.
So here we have four elected officials making critical decisions on an environmentally sensitive area that could have repercussions in the future and set a precedent for similar issues not even willing to give groups that are truly knowledgeable a proper hearing.
RELATED LETTER: Critical of Katzie voice injected in riverfront subdivision
And was there conflict of interest? Councillor Kiersten Duncan suggestion that colleagues who accepted financial contributions from the developer should bow out of the vote was correct.
Let’s face it folks, the decision was a foregone conclusion from the first reading on.
As Councillor Gordy Robson stated, the public will have the final say come next election.
Grover Telford, Maple Ridge
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