9/25/2009

Little Mountain Update


I have been following the Little Mountain story for most of this year (Please check out my photo essay on my blog or on youtube if you haven't) and there are some interesting new developments to talk about. First off, the city of Vancouver announced that they had come to a "win-win situation" regarding the 10 families that still occupy Little Mountain and the cities plan for demolition on the site.

The 10 families were insisting that the project be done as a phased development so that the community could remain intact. Critics of the cities plan also protested that the province was leaving housing empty at a time when the homeless situation was turning critical.

The province now claims that social housing will be the first thing built after demolition and that the families that are still residing in Little Mountain be allowed to stay. Vancouver Mayor Greg Robertson says "Little Mountain has been a very sensitive issue. A lot of people in Vancouver have seen it as a flashpoint, so we wanted this to work out and be an example of how we are going to deliver more social housing."

According to my source up at Little Mountain, it’s now just a matter of ensuring that what was promised, is what’s done. BC Housing is still pressing remaining families to move off site – despite Monday’s media announcement. Residents are still striving to get further clarification and answers from the city for their collective peace of mind. They have been given a response deadline of Monday September 28th on wether they are happy with this agreement.

So despite the cities rosy spin on the "win-win situation" I guess we will see in the next few weeks how many people actually come out on the winning side.

Tune in for more updates....



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