The Mystery of Paterson Park is the basis for this Halloween column. It's not so much scary as it is curious. I was going to talk about this later, however it has become more pressing since we have a municipal election on Nov. 15 and we want to bring you up to speed as to where this vision is at.
The quote I'm going to use for this column is famous but it never gets old: "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." Margaret Mead.
I am fortunate to belong to just such a group called the Delta Seniors Planning Team. We are a grassroots group of 55-plus volunteers who advocate for seniors and others living or working in Delta. Our vision for Paterson Park went public two years ago and much progress has been made from many potential partners and stakeholders.
Experts told us this vision is ambitious but entirely do-able providing the political will is there. Two polls were done by the local papers showing 85 to 90 per cent were in favor of the vision or aspects of it.
The vision, in brief, is to facilitate the development of the 24-acre Paterson Park site, at Ladner Trunk Road and Highway 17A, into an affordable and walkable mini village for all ages and incomes. The undeveloped site's size and proximity to local services is unprecedented in Metro Vancouver's current land market. The idea is to lease the land, not buy it, contributing to affordability but also revenue for the stakeholders.
The site was owned by the Delta Agricultural Society and was sold in 1990s. Approximately half is owned by Kwantlen Polytechnic University and the other half by the Corporation of Delta. They are the stakeholders.
I include the Delta Agricultural Society only because it has a "nobuild" covenant against the property, which was signed by a previous mayor in 1994. Can't imagine why they did that? But that's only one of the mysteries.
The other is the Corporation of Delta and its ongoing nonresponse to our two presentations (November 2013 and June 2014) plus numerous requests for meetings.
There was initial interest from a few councillors, which also seems to have evaporated. We can only wonder why? Can you tell I wanted to be a detective when I grew up?
Further to honouring Mead and her work, we would like to see the Corporation of Delta include a social planner as part of its staff. No, it's not for parties or recreation... To quote Doug Sabourin from Deltassist, "They work on projects that enhance the lives of every person in the community... A social planner is not a luxury. Delta is one of the very few communities in Metro Vancouver without one." I'm afraid it's starting to show, especially in North Delta.
The good news in all of this is that Kwantlen is still open to our vision, as is this community, considering the number of queries we get wondering what's happening with Paterson Park? Long story short, this vision is still very much alive, we are not going away and the ball continues to languish in Delta's court.
So the municipality's monster mystery this month is wondering why Mayor Lois Jackson, a seasoned senior herself, is not all over this opportunity. This conundrum to be continued...
PS: Happy Halloween and don't forget to vote on Nov 15.
