Friday
January 8, 2016 (Vol. 41 No. 2)
V O I C E
O F
W H I T E
R O C K
A N D
S O U T H
Last wish: Despite the swift progression his illness, popular children’s entertainer Robert Stelmach died surrounded by positivity and support. i see page 22
S U R R E Y
w w w. p e a c e a r c h n e w s . c o m
Industrial development strongest in South Surrey’s Campbell Heights neighbourhood
$1.46B building boom a near-record Kevin Diakiw Black Press
Surrey has shattered the billion-dollar mark in construction projects, recording the second-highest value in development in the city’s history. City figures provided show Surrey saw $1.46 billion in construction last year – second only to 2007, when there was $1.49 billion in development.
The figures indicate that just over $1 billion worth of that construction came from residential building permits. It was relatively equally split between single-family dwellings, homes with secondary suites and townhomes, with the last quarter of the money spent going to condos and miscellaneous residential building permits. Much of the construction occurred in South Surrey and south Newton, according
to Jean LaMontagne, Surrey’s general manager of planning and development. Commercial and industrial building projects both came in at about $187 million last year, followed by institutional ($57 million) and other ($17 million). Commercial construction figures were due to a few highly valued properties, such as the new Coast Capital Savings headquarters built near the King George SkyTrain Station.
Industrial development was, and continues to be, strongest in Campbell Heights in South Surrey. Last year’s numbers boast the best performance in Surrey’s construction sector since the global economic meltdown of 2008. Since then, the city has been hovering around the billion-dollar mark in permit values for construction, with a few of those i see page 4
Fraser Health responds
Rethink water plan: residents Melissa Smalley Staff Reporter
White Rock residents are calling on the city to rethink its plans to treat the water with chloramine, citing concerns ranging from health and environmental dangers to potential infrastructure damage. The decision to use chloramine – a mix of chlorine and ammonia – to disinfect the city’s water supply was announced in December, and immediately met with concern from residents. Citing negative health effects, environmental concerns and potential hazards to infrastructure such as plumbing pipes and fixtures, a group of citizens are planning to rally at city hall Monday afternoon to protest the decision. David Riley, director of the Little Campbell Watershed Society, told Peace Arch News Thursday he felt the city’s plans to chloraminate the water is “the biggest issue to hit White Rock in 40 years,” adding that it is also “hugely complicated.” Speaking on the environmental concerns associated with its use, Riley pointed to a pilot project in South Surrey in the late 1980s, when the water of 70,000 residents i see page 8
Raaj Chatterjee photo
Anahita Mahmoodi, an engineering student at SFU, helps serve at an interfaith community lunch held Jan. 2 at St. John’s Presbyterian Church.
More than 100 turn out for interfaith meal in White Rock
Community lunch shares food, faith Around 120 people turned out Saturday for an interfaith lunch held at St. John’s Presbyterian Church. The event, part of an ongoing, communityled ‘Interfaith Bi-Weekly Food Ministry’, the third-annual event welcomed guests from White Rock and Surrey, many of them seniors. “It was a wonderful event,” organizer Arun Chatterjee said in a post-lunch email.
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“Our lunch meets an important need for people in the community. During the festive time of the year, this is the only community lunch available in the White Rock area (possibly in Surrey, too). Lot of seniors and homeless guests depend on it.” Chatterjee said guests enjoyed dishes including moong halwa and shahi paneer. He thanked Sheila Jakus and volunteers –
who ranged in age from seven years to in their eighties, and included students from H.T. Thrift and Hyland elementaries, Panorama Ridge and Semiahmoo secondaries and SFU – for helping make the event a success, along with Nanak Foods, for donating paneer, snacks and desserts. Prayers from various faith traditions were also shared, Chatterjee said. – Tracy Holmes
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