Editor,
I was in attendance at the City of Surrey council meeting on Monday, Sept. 9 and found it very troubling.
As we saw in the last administration, our canopy and stream protection is being threatened. The City is proposing that we allow development of 40 per cent of our riparian stream and river protection margins; that is, to reduce the protective margin from 50 metres to 30 metres. This will turn our streams and rivers into drainage channels and reduce the absorption of rainwater.
Cities like Seattle, Toronto and Los Angeles are daylighting or increasing the green margins to increase absorption of this water into aquifers because they are trying to reduce flood damage and preserve aquifer water storage while opening habitat for trees, plants, fish and other wildlife.
This ongoing greenspace loss by the City of Surrey has been a policy to favour developers' profits while resulting in more environmental inequity. The City of Surrey is reported by Metro Vancouver to have a canopy cover of 26 per cent canopy for 2020, down from 33 per cent in 2001, a significant loss.
My observations support a significant mature tree loss since developers are not incentivized by the City to preserve trees. Consultation with the Surrey Urban Indigenous Leadership Committee is essential.
As you know, our mature trees protect us from excessive heat, mitigate water runoff, reduce pollution, provide wildlife habitat, stabilize banks and provide positive physical and mental health benefits to humans. The other concern is that what canopy is present is distributed more heavily in higher-income neighbourhoods.
The opposite should be the case — that is, the City should provide more greenspace and canopy to lower-income areas as they have higher levels of stress.
The damage done by this reduction in stream and river protection margins will be permanent, and the climate emergency is not improving.
Don't let the City of Surrey harm our habitat. Call or write to mayor and council — clerks@surrey.ca.
Sincerely,
Robert Winston, Surrey
