Editor:
The Ladner Village renewal advisory committee's inaugural meeting was very encouraging, particularly wherein the members agreed on a couple of critical points. Firstly, “the village should remain geared for locals" and secondly, past decisions should not “hamstring” progress moving forward.
This prompts me to offer up some ideas that have never, to my knowledge, made it to press locally. Please excuse the following segue.
There is a yet-to-be explained reluctance that is evidently holding back the City of Delta from declaring a "climate emergency." While other communities across Canada and, most notably, across the Fraser River in Richmond have taken this essential step (yes, symbolic, but also much more than only that), Delta remains silent.
What has this got to do with our village and waterfront today? Well, in the coming few decades folks here in Ladner as well as Richmond will, by all accounts, be required to respond and react proactively to the new reality which will bring us rising sea levels and extreme weather events.
Simply put, this is an absolute must if our children and their children are going to be able to live their lives in this unique and wonderful community we all call home.
Now, back to the waterfront and the immediate (well, that may be a stretch) possibilities.
In the context of the advisory committee's mandate, I believe the time has come to properly and unemotionally assess the present integrity and viability of the existing dike along Chisholm Street with an eye to the next 20 to 30 years.
How do we do this? Well, our planners and engineers will be the “go to’s” of course, however there’s one local standard that we can all go and see for ourselves. Go for a walk or bike ride and look at the Marina Garden Estates development. It is quite gripping to compare the newly built dike at this location (particularly adjacent to the Millennium Trail foot bridge) to the state of our Ladner Harbour.
The term engineers use to describe dike height is geodetic vertical. That superb paved trail at Captain's Cove is 5.5 metres geodetic while Chisholm Street comes in between three and four metres geodetic.
Where am I going with this? We have weathered many years of determined efforts to kick start our tired old harbour. These ultimately all proved futile in spite of the best intentions by all involved. The impediments remain unchanged and possibly even more entrenched.
So why not take a breath and explore making the hard decisions that we have all come to realize this generation has to make? Yes, the political repercussions for our elected officials will come fast and furious, no doubt about that.
Will someone stand up and speak for the future come hell or high water? I guess we'll see.
Tony Dales
