Routley parents welcome second look
A call for a second look at the controversial Routley land swap was welcome news for the parents who oppose the deal.
“At least somebody finally saw the light,” said parents' spokesperson Pete Pretorius.
“It’s high time this happened.”
On Nov. 8, Langley Board of Education chairperson Rob McFarlane ended the last meeting of trustees before the election by announcing that, if re-elected, he would press for a review of the decision to exchange school land in the Routley neighbourhood for a site in Yorkson.
Pretorius said parents were “cautiously optimistic” about the change of position by McFarlane, who originally voted for the swap.
“I’m very happy that someone finally said . . . you can’t have a neighbourhood of 500 children with no school,” Pretorius said.
He said it’s “bizarre” that it was a trustee elected from the City, not the Township where Routley is located, who said it.
“It’s the weirdest situation.”
Pretorius said the trustees need to take control of the decision-making process away from the bureaucrats who came up with the Routley swap.
“They [staff] are not informing their elected officials of all the ramifications.”
Several of the trustees elected on Saturday have indicated they want to take another look at the land swap. McFarlane was re-elected in the City.
As unanimously approved by trustees, the land swap calls for the school site in the Routley neighbourhood to become a park while adjacent parkland would become a townhouse development.
In return, the school district will get property to build a school in the Yorkson neighbourhood of Willoughby.
COMMENTS
Let's keep comments:
We ask that all participants own their words by logging in with their Facebook account. It's a simple process that will take seconds and helps keep our comments free of trolls, cranks, and “drive-by” commenters.
We reserve the right to remove comments from anyone using screen names, pseudonyms or false identities. Please see our FAQ if you have questions or concerns about using Facebook to comment.