Surrey threatens to pull out of Metro Vancouver regional growth plan

Amid ongoing criticism of governance at the Metro Vancouver Regional District, the City of Surrey is threatening to pull out of a key regional coordination program.

Surrey city council voted unanimously this week to withdraw from the Metro 2050 Regional Growth Strategy.

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Metro Vancouver describes the strategy, adopted two years ago, as the region’s “shared vision of how projected population, housing, and job growth will be managed over the next 30 years.”

In pulling the plug, elected Surrey officials did not mince words.

“It does fail Surrey, as it is,” said Mayor Brenda Locke. “It’s very clear in here that it’s talking about things that attach everything to public transit. It stops us from doing a lot of the development we can and should be doing.”

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Surrey Coun. Linda Annis pointed to continued concerns about governance and spending at the regional body, ranging from the massively over-budget North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant to international travel to stipends for attending committee meetings.

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“Until they get their house in order, I think we need to be very mindful of what we are getting involved with with Metro Vancouver,” she said.

“I quite frankly have lost confidence in them and I think they need to get back into the core service, and that’s water and sewer.”

A review of Metro Vancouver’s governance is currently underway.

Andy Yan, director of Simon Fraser University’s City Program, said Surrey’s move reflects a feeling among many south of the Fraser that the region has been long overlooked for infrastructure funding.

But he said it raises important questions going forward about how core infrastructure can function without regional collaboration.

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“With the potential withdrawal from the (Regional Growth Strategy) by Surrey, it actually puts in a rather ambiguous situation towards … how sewage, water, solid waste removal and air quality might be provided in this region,” Yan said.

“Going alone, you couldn’t. There is no idea of a municipal sewage system. These are systems that are best operated at a regional level.”

Metro Vancouver says no municipality has ever withdrawn from any of its growth strategies, and that it will reach out to Surrey to hear the city’s concerns.

Locke, meanwhile, said the city is planning to hold a summit with the mayors of neighbouring municipalities to discuss a coordinated strategy to ensure the cost of regional services stays under control.