Improving public engagement will be on Vancouver city hall’s September 24 agenda as council is set to receive a staff report on how to improve engagement with Vancouver residents.
Community groups from across the city, meantime, are planning a rally to draw attention to what they consider a sham of an engagement process.
“The report you’ll see on September 24 is an example of the commitment by council to listen to people,” councillor Raymond Louie told Business in Vancouver.
“There was concern about the process so council did [instruct] staff to report back earlier than they had planned to with suggestions on how to improve consultation.”
While Louie believes the report is evidence of council’s commitment to improve engagement, community groups are unimpressed.
“Frustration caused by the city’s authoritarian attitude has reached boiling point,” said Marpole Residents Coalition spokesman Mike Burdick.
One of the points of friction with Marpole residents is what residents consider the city’s promotion of a community plan that would allow for a 50% increase in population in the next 30 years without sufficient amenities.
Another stemmed from a resolution of the mayor’s task force on housing. The task force urged the city to increase the supply and diversity of affordable housing by using city land, such as streets.
This spurred mayor Gregor Robertson and his Vision Vancouver councillors to explore the idea of narrowing streets as part of a pilot project in Marpole. According to the proposal, excess land could then be used for new homes.
Residents protested loudly, and the initiative is now seen to be on the back burner, real-estate consultant Michael Geller told BIV.
Louie, however, defended the thin streets idea as still worth exploring. West End Neighbours director Randy Helten believes the city is giving “lip service” to public consultation and not supporting that consultation with conviction.
“Our main point [at the rally] is to ask the city to have a fundamental rethink of consultation on urban planning,” Helten said. “It could be momentous.” •
