Gateway Closes Door on Neighbourhood

By Elvis Glazier - While many people fled the Lower Mainland for the Victoria Day long weekend a group of concerned citizens took to the streets of Delta to raise awareness about the Gateway Project and the devastation the South Fraser Perimeter Road is having on the riverfront community of Sunbury. The Sunbury Neighbourhood Association (SNA)organized a Victoria Day tea party to let the government know that they were, "not amused."

The demonstration, which took place on the 10300 block of River Road, had a shaky start. Organizers arrived at the rally location, a couple of waterfront residential lots which had been bulldozed, to find that the site had been made completely inaccessible by industrial fencing and green fabric sheathing. "It's ridiculous", said Richelle Giberson, one of the tea party's organizers. "This lot has been vacant for a long time and now suddenly there's a fence? It seems a little suspicious to me."

(The Delta Free Press tried to track down someone at Ledcor CMI Ltd., the company in charge of the design and build of the 40km container truck route, to comment on the sudden closure but no one was available for comment at the time this story went to print.)

In the interest of public safety two sections of the fence were dismantled so attendees wouldn't be forced on to the busy River Road. The Delta Police were called to the site shortly after but immediately left when they discovered the Sunbury Neighbourhood Group had organized the event.

The rest of the Victorian style garden party went off without a hitch and was well attended by the public who seemed to show up in shifts. The fenceline was used as a backdrop for the information placards and banners that were set out for people to paint they're pleas to the Provincial Government to stop the impending development.

Ernie Baatz, a local resident and SNA member, is passionate when it comes to preserving the neighbourhood. "This highway is not wanted or needed. There is no demand for the container port expansion and the only people who will benefit from this project are the developers. The global economic crisis has reduced Asian shipments to an all time low and it is unlikely it will ever recover. Plus the increased capacities at other expanded ports, the widening of the Panama Canal, and the thawing of the East-West passage will make this port obsolete before the last piece of asphalt is rolled out."

"Who's brilliant idea was it to build a four lane container truck route beside an active rail line? If you need to move containers use the steel wheels on rails not rubber on asphalt." added Sue Hodges, a long time Tsawwassen resident who traveled from South Delta to support her neighbours in the North. "We're being let down by all levels of government. The provincial government is completely out of touch with reality and our Delta City Council is not being the stewards of the land that they used to be. Something strange is happening at City Hall."

These sentiments were repeated by everyone at the tea party. Of the 223 Delta properties required to complete the SFPR 155 have been acquired. Of these properties 64 homes are slated for destruction and at the time of this report 41 have seen the working end of a bulldozer and 34 of them in North Delta.

It's easy to understand what they are saying about their neighbourhood being destroyed when you're standing at ground zero amidst the ruin of what was once a vibrant part of Delta's history and heritage. Although the development seems relentless, the resolve and strength of character of the people fighting to save their neighbourhood can only be described as uplifting and hopeful and that is what truly makes a community!