Editor:
Re: Tree toll troubles councillor, PAN May 31
I was appalled on reading the article in the Peace Arch News that Surrey council are allowing the cutting of 50,000 trees. How can they justify such numbers?
The environmental benefit of an 80-year-old Douglas fir or cedar tree cannot be replaced by a boulevard sapling, but vast areas of oxygen-producing trees and plants are being clear-cut.
I read that Surrey may become larger than Vancouver by 2030. Do we need development at all costs? Already our services cannot keep up. Have the mayor and councillors visited Surrey Memorial or Peace Arch Hospital lately and seen the overcrowding?
Mayor McCallum ran his campaign on three main items according the Surrey.ca website.
I quote, “A third key priority is to pause rapid expansion while creating smart development guidelines to ensure infrastructure keeps up with growth.”
I live in South Surrey and see no “pause in rapid expansion.”
In fact, quite the contrary, along 24 Avenue, 168 Street and other areas of Surrey. It seems only Coun. Pettigrew realizes the awful legacy this council will leave their children and grandchildren, and we, as citizens, need to come together to halt this increasing trend.
John Wilcock, South Surrey