Editor:
Our Surrey First mayor and council have finally acknowledged that the overcrowded schools in Surrey are directly related to the rampant development in this city and that they can do something about it (Small crowd stalls housing, June 29).
By referring the controversial development at Panorama Drive and 152 Street back to staff with instructions to “determine how the project can be phased and structured to coincide with new school construction in South Newton,” they have begun the process that should have been done many years ago.
Coun. Judy Villeneuve admitted overcrowded schools are not a new problem in Surrey. Let’s hope this is not a one-time realization by council. Working constructively with the Surrey School District on an ongoing basis is key to the city that boasts “the future lives here.”
The city and district need to work together to help the ministers of education and finance understand the unique circumstances of the Surrey School District when it comes to capital funding. The minister of finance says he wants Lower Mainland cities to continue to densify in order to keep house prices steady, however, the Ministry of Finance also holds the purse strings when it comes to funding new schools. So, if he wants Surrey to continue to densify, he needs to be proactive in funding new schools in our city.
Charlene Dobie, Surrey
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The City of Surrey is selling off all our existing and future schools to developers with no thought for what their voters want.
All our schools are incredibly overcrowded with massive amounts of portable classrooms on each school in South Surrey. We are in desperate need for both high schools and elementary schools, but this new mayor of ours has offered no thought to the future; all she wants is to be in with the developers for some reason.
A perfect example is the Catholic Church property at 3660 152 St., which is already zoned institutional, yet on which a developer hopes to build a 330-home project (Church-site future concerns residents, May 4). Existing roads cannot handle the traffic already, let alone allowing another 600 to 900 vehicles in and out onto 152 Street from 36 Avenue.
This lovely, quiet neighbourhood is under threat of plans showing massive overbuilding doubling the density to anything already in this area, with zero real thought as to moving this traffic. Anyone that tries to get through to the 32 Avenue Highway 99 on-ramp in any direction knows that area is a nightmare already.
Leslie Ford, Surrey
