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Residents willing to go without sense of community brewery purported to bring

Editor: Re: Craft brewery brings a community together, letter to the editor, May 30 On reading the letter I came to wonder how it was that someone who does not live in Delta gets a letter printed covering three-quarters of a page with a prominent hea

Editor:

Re: Craft brewery brings a community together, letter to the editor, May 30

On reading the letter I came to wonder how it was that someone who does not live in Delta gets a letter printed covering three-quarters of a page with a prominent headline on an issue that Delta council has already ruled on.

Could it have anything to do with the fact the author (Kevin Klassen) works for HAPA Collaborative and that HAPA is working for Century Group and Sean Hodgins on the Tsawwassen Town Centre Mall redevelopment. That certainly explains the content of the “letter,” but not why the Optimist printed the whole of the “letter” by an outsider when the editors are quite willing to edit the letters of locals or not print them at all.

And why didn’t the Optimist identify the writer’s connection to the HAPA Collaborative and Century Group or Hodgins or note that he does not live in Delta. Was this a paid advertorial or a clear sign of the newspaper's bias and role in perpetuating an issue already resolved to the benefit of those residents most affected?

Given the author’s belief in the positive qualities of how an industrial brewery brings a community together, I was surprised to see that a similar beneficial establishment wasn’t put forward in the Town Centre master plan. Surely HAPA would have impressed upon Century Group that this was a big plus. If it isn’t already in the plans, I guess an application to vary the zoning will soon follow.

Maybe we shouldn’t be defensive and instead embrace Klassen’s observations about their benefits and place breweries in every neighbourhood. Remember, as he says, despite its 51 foot height and need to bring in supplies and remove product, it is not really an industrial operation. Hence, some of the older neighbourhoods could really benefit.

How about one in Beach Grove, Pebble Hill, Tsawwassen Heights, The Terrace, The Highlands, The Village, English Bluff or any of the communities where the citizens are convinced by his letter and now will be demanding these types of amenities? All of these areas probably need help bringing the community together. And there are parks in all of these areas on which, or besides which, the breweries could be built and provide the requisite place to hang out after meeting up at the brewery.

Let’s leave the Southlands without a brewery and let the eventual residents and those of Boundary Bay suffer from the inevitable loss of community. Let’s build breweries everywhere else where the people will surely value them.

Brian Crawford