What’s ahead in 2015 in Langley? That’s a hard question to even begin to answer, but there were a number of hints in the final months of 2014 which allow one to make at least some educated guesses.
The three local government bodies will have plenty of work ahead — not just in determining tax increases, but in satisfying a lot of demands from the community, some of which were issues in the recent municipal elections.
The Langley Board of Education has to work hard to determine how it can obtain funding for a new Willoughby high school, and at the same time see if a tentative plan to close Langley Secondary will pass muster with the community. Part of this complex equation involves both schools, as the district needs to come up with some capital funding to build a new Willoughby school, and LSS needs major seismic renovations if it is to stay open.
Langley Township council needs to get to work on better ways to consult the community about community plans, development and the myriad of issues that go with rapid urbanization.
The uproar over the Brookswood community plan in the spring months was a key factor in the election results, and there is a need for a new community plan in Brookswood and Fernridge that current residents feel comfortable with. At the same time, rampant development in Willoughby is leading to school overcrowding, a lack of parking, the need for more transit services and other pressing urban needs. The Township seems to be playing catch-up on far too many issues.
Langley City is facing a set of very different issues. The City is not growing significantly, but crime and poverty-related issues are requiring more and more attention. Langley RCMP have been kept very busy on a whole series of serious crimes, the bus exchange continues to be a problem, and the number of homeless and mentally ill people on the streets is increasing.
These are not simple issues to address, and dealing with them effectively requires a great deal of co-operation with other agencies, notably Fraser Health Authority, TransLink and the provincial government.
The TransLink spending referendum will be a dominant issue in the first few months of 2015, and plans for a .5 per cent sales tax increase will face stiff resistance in Langley, given its lack of transit and limited plans for improvements here. No matter how the campaign proceeds, I will be surprised if a majority of Langley residents vote in favour of higher taxes.
There will be a federal election in October. For the first time in many years, there will be two separate races in Langley. Langley City and a small strip of the Township have been joined to Cloverdale and its environs in a new Cloverdale-Langley City riding. Both the governing Conservatives and Liberals have already selected their candidates for the riding. Both are longtime Langley residents.
There will be a continued push for more services in the community, and one that will be talked about a great deal will be the proposal for an Aldergrove pool.
