The Editor,
Coquitlam residents are somewhat disengaged in the civic process. This is evident by the low turnout at public hearings, council meetings, town hall meetings and, of course, the voting booth.
But it’s not because we don’t care. It’s because we don’t feel our voices are being heard.
I’ve been heartened, however, by the consultation process surrounding the Burquitlam Lougheed Community Plan. For the last two years, city staffers have presented at numerous meetings of both community associations in the region. They’ve held at least two public input sessions at local schools. I’ve also been attending public advisory group meetings on the plan for almost two years. These meetings have been interactive and full of feel-good exercises, like placing sticky notes on a map of Burquitlam to express our vision for the region.
City staffers have assured attendees all the way that feedback from residents would factor heavily into any proposal they made to council. Many attendees have felt they would play a meaningful role in the planning process. We’ve been at this almost two years and it has felt like a transparent process thus far.
Recently, however, some Oakdale residents have felt blindsided by the city’s latest proposal for the neighbourhood. There is much higher density planned for Oakdale but that’s not the issue. The issue is that we’re two years into the planning process and the latest plan for Oakdale bears no resemblance to anything stakeholders have seen to date. If it was the city’s intent to significantly increase the density in Oakdale, It would have served residents to broach the subject much earlier in the consultation process.
Experiences like this reaffirm the notion that our voices are not being heard. Public hearings, town hall meetings, council meetings and consultations with residents make good public relations. But these events are more symbolic than impactful when it comes to steering the agenda at city hall.
Ben Craig, Coquitlam
