Hundreds of residents gathered in Langley Township Tuesday night for a public meeting on a proposed development that some say will change the rural nature of the neighbourhood forever.
The meeting was scheduled for Monday night, but had to be moved because of how many people were interested in attending.
The original meeting had room for about 200 people, but more than 400 people showed up.
On Tuesday, about as many people attended at the new venue at George Preston Recreation Centre.
The Brookswood/Fernridge Community Plan sets the course for the neighbourhood for the next three decades. City officials are expecting the population to grow from the current 13,000 to over 42,000 people in that time frame.
Langley Township mayor Jack Froese says they can’t ignore predicted growth and need a solid plan to accommodate it.
“In the Regional Growth Strategy from Metro Vancouver, the Regional Growth Strategy that was approved in 2011, the region, the whole Greater Vancouver regional district, is going to grow about one million people over the next 30 years,” said Froese. “Langley, Surrey, has experienced a lot of growth and I believe we need to plan, we need to have constructive well-thought-out plans to accommodate this growth. We can’t ignore it and this growth is coming. It’s coming to the entire region and Langley’s expected to double the population in 30 years.”
But some residents are concerned about increasing urban density and environmental impacts.
“One of the reasons my family moved here was because of the natural environment, the sense of community and the nature at our doorsteps,” said one resident. “If we, as a community, don’t fight for this, no one else will.”
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