That sound you just heard was all the NIMBYs exhaling.
There was never any doubt the desirable Greater Vancouver region would continue to grow in the decades ahead, but there was much consternation, particularly in these parts, over where that growth would be accommodated. The term "fair share" has been bandied about for years, the expectation being that all areas within the Lower Mainland must absorb some portion of the increased population.
It's always been a prickly subject around here given we're not terribly partial towards growth, we don't have a lot of available land to handle it and, perhaps most importantly, we bristle at the idea of some regional level of government telling us how our community should develop.
Regardless of such feelings, Metro Vancouver has a Regional Growth Strategy, and because Delta is part of Metro Vancouver, we're obligated to help carry it out. We've long had an uneasy relationship with such an arrangement, the fear being that Metro would pressure us to grow at a rate at which we're not comfortable.
Those worries had to be allayed by numbers introduced at the Delta council table recently. Although the region's population is expected to grow by 1.2 million over the next 30 years, Delta will be responsible for accommodating just over 20,000 of those people.
That means even though we've got a shade under five per cent of the region's population, we'll be taking in less than two per cent of the newcomers. Our share doesn't get a whole lot more "fair" than that. So while Delta's population grows by less than one per cent per year, Surrey is adding something like 1,200 people a month. In other words, our neighbours to the east will welcome as many new residents in the next couple of years as Delta will over the next three decades.
What's even better news for those in South Delta who are particularly fond of the status quo is that most of that growth, according to our own civic leaders, will occur in North Delta, primarily along a Scott Road corridor Delta is trying to reinvigorate. Increasing density, including the recently approved 37-storey high-rise, is seen as a key component in revitalizing that tired stretch of road, and if that helps meet Metro Vancouver's growth objectives, well, that doesn't hurt either.
So it looks like the worries that Delta will see its character fundamentally changed by regional decree are unfounded. It turns out we'll be able to live with our "fair share" after all.
