Editor: I recently received a notice from the Township about a open house for the latest plan for the destruction of Willoughby by developers.
First, Langley Township keeps persisting in calling this area Latimer neighbourhood after the name of a Surrey pioneer. I guess the reason for this is the Township wants to keep up with the Langley School Board’s record of completely ignoring Willoughby pioneer names for the new schools thay are building in Willoughby.
There are several points listed on the notice of what they want to provide. One is for the “necessary commercial support services” for the neighbourhood. Of course they are not necessary, as there are plenty of commercial support services available in Walnut Grove, the new Willoughby Town Centre and along 72 Avenue.
Then it mentions “preservation of open space.” This one had me choking on my orange juice.
How does building rows of army barracks (sorry, townhouses) preserve open space? The best way for that is to just leave the area alone.They also are concerned about the area’s natural beauty. Well, the developers know how to handle that. They bulldoze houses that have been in the area, often since the 1930s and 1940s, which have character, and clearcut pioneer orchards, some of which contain fruit trees of varieties that are becoming rarer by the day.
They will also clearcut stands of trees that have to be close to 100 years old so they can put up rows of look-alike houses that are, as the notice says “high quality design and architecture.”
What are my feelings about the Latimer Neighbourhood Plan?In the words of the great Groucho Marx, “Whatever it is, I’m against it.”
Brian Johnson,
Willoughby
