Conservation: Hungry bears Co find Easter chocolate. 3
History: Legion marks 70 years since end of Second World War. 4 Sports: Burrards’ stars shining in NLL. 18
Wednesday, April 22, 2015 · mapleridgenews.com · est. 1978 · (office) 604-467-1122 · (del ive r y ) 60 4- 4 66 - 63 97
Sheridan Hill protest moves to Victoria City and band promised seats on review committee By Neil Corbett ncorbett@mapleridgenews.com
Members of the Katzie First Nation and residents of Sheridan Hill protested on the steps of the provincial legislature on Monday, trying to stop a new quarry on the Pitt Meadows landmark. They were part of a delegation that included Katzie Chief Susan Miller and Pitt Meadows Mayor John Becker, who met with Mines Minister Bill Bennett and Environment Minister Mary Polak, asking the government to stop the proposed Meadows Quarry operation, which would lower the southern portion of Sheridan Hill by 30 metres. The plan would see 240,000 tonnes of material removed from the site for each of five years, lowering the hill from an elevation of 75 metres to 45 m. The protesters left with assurances that the quarry will be subject to a review committee process, and that both the municipality and Katzie will have representation on that committee, along with mines ministry officials and others. “We will be fully embedded in the process,” said Becker. Such direct involvement does not presuppose a result, he added, but does ensure the committee will hear the opposition viewpoint, and that local government and the Katzie can “frame the assessment.” Becker will also argue there should be representation from area residents on the committee. Many have lived in the area alongside the existing Lafarge quarry on the north side of Sheridan Hill since the 1960s. See Quarry , 15
Tim Fitzgerald/THE NEWS
Tina Varno and her dog Lacey take a stroll through Westview Park on Monday. The Maple Ridge resident supports more off-leash parks in the city.
Howls over new dog park City has plans for three more off-leash areas B y P h i l M e l nychuk pmelnychuk@mapleridgenews.com
The city has heard from neighbours and is planning an offleash dog area in Westview Park. But it will do so over the howls of protest from some of the neighbours nearby who don’t want the park. Juliana Plesner collected 49 signatures from people opposed
to the park when she did a doorto-door survey in the area two months ago. Only 15 told her they favoured the park. She wanted to do more, but threats discouraged her from continuing. But she did survey five roads in the immediate area. Plesner says that an online survey, done by the city last September and showing support for the park, was flawed. The survey was taken during a teacher’s strike and out of the 46 who responded and said yes, only 14 were residents of
involved. Tina Varno, though, is looking forward to the park. “That’s fantastic.” It will allow her to unleash her little dog Lacey so she can run around a bit. When she lets her dog off leash now in a park, people yell her and tell her it’s for walking. “It will be so much more convenient.” She lives nearby on 216th Street and says she’ll be able to get there by walking. See Parks, 15
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her neighbourhood, those who lived within five kilometres of the park. The remaining 32 lived more than five kilometres away, she said. “Hardly a fair representation of the effects of a dog park in a busy neighbourhood,” she said. “The question I heard most often, and which I ask now – why is the city not asking us if we want a park in our neighbourhood? Plesner said a survey that only a small handful are aware of, is not enough to justify due diligence on the part of the parties
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