Dramatic title, hey? Here is hopefully a balanced overview:
The draft Aberdeen plan document projects up to 10 000 new people by 2036, most of them living upslope from the already developed areas. Many folks say that we need new residential lots to accommodate Kamloops' population growth. Aberdeen is a very desirable area of town in which to live and the developers who own the upslope land have had a reasonable expectation that they would be able to build neighborhoods on that land one day.
The big questions about the proposed plan revolve around its environmental responsibility. In a nutshell, are the proposed developments going to be nasty examples of sprawl? We will certainly be expanding the footprint of habitation in our community, going even higher up the southern face of our valley. Are there creative ways we can reduce the number of car trips? Will we be creating an area that supports grocery stores and transit close by? In a province where more than 40% of our greenhouse gas emissions come from transportation, this is something we need to consider. The province has already told us they will mandate local governments to incorporate greenhouse gas reduction strategies in community planning.
The other issue is, of course, groundwater. Will new development help or hinder slope stability?
All things to consider....
Dear Arjun: I am a registered professional biologist practicing as a consultant here in Kamloops. I retired 4 years ago from the Ministry of Environment.
I wish to compliment you for raising this question along with your recent article (Feb. 28) in the Senior's Connector regarding growth issues.
These are absolutely fundamental issues regarding the successful survival of human beings on this planet as well as more local issues about the quality of life we expect in Kamloops. The giddy approach to endless growth on the globe cannot be sustained and new sustainable economic models must be developed, along with putting a price on the services provided by our natural resources.
And starting at home with questions such as how big should Kamloops become and how we control that while at the same time maintaining a productive and sustainable economy, is a timely thing to do.
It is easy to put out the buzz words around sustainability but it is much harder to find practical ways to address implementation. I will not pretend to have the answers. But people must begin to debate these hard issues and try to understand the implications around them.
I fear that many people simply have not thought about such questions as limits to growth. Recent climate change publicity and Carbon taxes are stimulating some thinking around part of the issues and this is good. But it goes deeper.
Even such apparently small issues as the new problems agricultural producers now have in marketing their chickens, beef etc at the farm gate is an example of a fundamental disconnect between the regulators of health versus the environmental sustainability of food production. Why we would not be encouraging the use of local products with lower carbon costs getting food to consumers is beyond logic. Let's hope that this faulty approach does not extend to our very excellent Farmer's Market and others just like it. We need more of them, not less.
Again, thank you for raising these questions. I applaud your willingness to be a risk-taking politician and talk about alternatives.
Let's hear more of it.
Posted by: Rick Howie | February 28, 2008 at 09:01 PM