Editor:
Amazing, exciting, inspiring. These are the words that come to my mind to describe what I and many of my friends and neighbours experienced when we attended the Southlands Bike In on Sept 8.
The Bike In was my first opportunity to see the Southlands firsthand as my family and I only moved to Tsawwassen three years ago in search of a more rural and community-minded lifestyle. Over these three years I have heard so many conflicting stories about the development proposal, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to see and learn what was really being planned for the Southlands.
My experience with the Bike-In started at the cottage where my family and friends gathered just after 11 a.m. As excited as I was to explore the Southlands, I was surprised to only find a couple of other bikers gathered at the cottage.
My initial thought was, "Was I wrong? I really thought other people were getting excited about showing their support for the Southlands, but as I looked around there were only seven of us on bikes."
But as quickly as this thought formed, it disappeared as bikers started to trickle in and then within half an hour, the cottage area was so crowded the bikes were wrapping around the Royal Bank and up the breezeway by the mall entrance.
There were families, retired couples, grandparents with their grandchildren, about as broad a cross-section of Tsawwassen as one could imagine.
As Sean Hodgins welcomed us and then proceeded to lead us out of the mall and onto 56th Street towards the Southlands, I couldn't help but feel a sense of excitement. Outside of the Tour de Delta, I had never seen so many bikes in one place at one time.
By the time it was my turn to leave the parking lot the stream of bikes ahead of me already stretched well past Winskill Park.
When my family reached the Southlands gate it had already been opened and people were flooding in. This is where my sense of awe really kicked in, as I biked through the farmland that is to be given to Delta it seemed to go on forever.
I had no idea how huge the farming area will be. I would pass one field and then there would be another, I crossed a little bridge and there was more. Finally I asked someone where the houses would go but they didn't know either.
After looking down at my odometer and realizing I had travelled over a kilometre in the farm fields, I saw a sign very close to Earthwise that marked the beginning of the Southlands neighborhood.
I couldn't help but think, "This is where the development begins? This is such a small area compared to the massive development that I had read about in the letters to the editor. Have those opposed to the Southlands really taken the time to look at the plan?"
As these thoughts went through my head I biked the short distance past the beehives and Earthwise Garden and joined the BBQ.
At the BBQ my family and I had a chance to get on a hay wagon and tour the fields one more time, and again I was amazed at the enormous size of the farming area and expanse of the existing forest that will remain untouched. But as impressive as the farm area was, I was most surprised at the small area set aside for housing.
My final thoughts as I got off the hay wagon were, "This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for the residents of Delta. This is the legacy I want for my child and future grandchildren. I need to let people know what I have seen."
Thank you, Century Group, for a wonderful day and you have my support for your Southlands project.
Shannon Patterson
