Editor:
It seems these days everyone is becoming more aware of his entitlements or “rights.”
Indeed, I have found that our young people are quick to remind the listener of his “rights.” I used to find this annoying, as I tend to associate rights with the responsibilities and duties that used to be taken for granted. Of late, however, I have found myself wondering if the young ones aren’t onto something.
This change of heart is due largely to the horrendous pace of development in South Surrey, with painful and, in some cases, devastating effects on older, long-term residents like me. The resulting ruination of our once-beautiful neighbourhoods has been driven by greed, arrogance, and total insensitivity on the part of all three levels of government.
Compromise is becoming impossible, as consultation has become a sham. I have watched people in districts all over Surrey fight valiantly to save some semblance of the home where they have lived for many years, only to be brushed aside by the ‘powers that be’ – people who have forgotten that they are not our masters but our paid servants.
I find myself associating the loss of our trees to the loss of our very democracy.
For several years now, I have noticed that the mayor and council’s method of dealing with us, is to not deal with us. A case in point is the treatment of our Country Woods board of directors’ letters to council and the very powerful Surrey school board.
It reminded the parties of the letter of intent signed by the board in 2012, an agreement stating that, “Community members will be directly engaged in planning functions and designs of the new campus” to be built in our immediate neighbourhood.
Being the largest high school in Surrey, one can imagine the huge impact it will have on our rural neighbourhood. Extensive widening of the street, resulting in the loss of magnificent conifers presently lining the street that is the entrance to our homes, plus vast increase in vehicle traffic, being just the beginning.
These multiple problems plus suggestions for mitigation were outlined in the aforementioned letter.
The response was the passing off of the letter to a subordinate engineer, who in turn, gave the letter to an assistant. As for the school board, they did not bother to reply.
This demonstration of contempt and arrogance is unacceptable in a democratic society.
I am a Canadian. I am entitled to a democracy that lasts longer than a few hours, once every four years. Democracy should be alive and well every day of the year on the streets where we live.
I am entitled to a public consultation that means something and is not an empty exercise. I am entitled to a thoughtful response from the people to whom my letters are addressed. I am entitled to the mature trees that line my street, with all the beauty and benefits they bring.
I am entitled to the preservation of the neighbourhood I chose to live in and have learned to love.
Sybil Rowe, Surrey
