EDITOR,
Re.: Development at Britannia
Currently we have two parties looking to develop various areas of Britannia Beach. Macdonald Development seems to be more active around their plans for a retail development of the Britannia Creek flood plains, an area recognized to be a hazardous zone. Their plans appear to be contingent on convincing the appropriate ministries to improve the potential commercial value their lands by providing and paying for mitigating improvements that would qualify the land for the proposed development. With each degree of global warming the atmosphere increases its capacity to hold 7 per cent more humidity. Whenever that air cools, it will fall as rain; as we see in Calgary and around the world, with increased flooding. As the world banks push for more austerity in favour of servicing interest on debt, governments will have less money to spend. I suggest that if a private group looks to develop lands for profit, that they carry those costs and take on the risks associated with it. Surely the days of private profit at public expense are over. Do we need another White Spot drive-through retail development on Highway 99? The issue of building the designated highway bypass of Britannia is only a matter of time. How will that affect those invested with life savings in retail businesses in the long run? The developers take profit and move on to leave the real risk with others. Changing context demands we reconsider what we are doing. The signs are self-evident.
Ron Fulber
Britannia Beach
