WOLF AND THE NEW PETITION

Watchers of Langley Forests has launched a petition campaign calling upon Township of Langley Council  to permanently protect  the Glen Valley forest properties withdrawn from the market in late January . Under a provision of the Community Charter the Council can act by 2/3 vote of all council members  to set aside property the municipality owns for conservation or heritage conservation purposes. Once that occurs the status of the property can't change without holding a referendum.

The relevant section of the Community Charter reads:

Reservation and dedication of municipal property

30  (1) A council may, by bylaw, reserve or dedicate for a particular municipal or other public purpose real property owned by the municipality.

(2) As a restriction, a bylaw under subsection (1) that reserves or dedicates property

(a) as a park or public square, or

(b) for purposes related to heritage or heritage conservation,

may only be adopted by an affirmative vote of at least 2/3 of all the members of council.

(3) A bylaw that removes a reservation or dedication referred to in subsection (2) may only be adopted with the approval of the electors.

Subsection 5 of Section 30 goes on to say:

(5) Bylaws adopted or works undertaken by a council that directly affect property reserved or dedicated under this section must be consistent with the purpose for which the property is reserved or dedicated.

The legislation can found at this site.

The petition text is as below. You can view the complete format here. 

We, the undersigned, are concerned that the Township has not legally protected the forested Glen Valley properties, owned by the Township of Langley, that have been taken off the market in response to public opposition to the sales.

These lands are extremely significant due to their high ecological and heritage value. There is currently no park development or management plan in place for either of these parcels of land and nothing to prohibit the current or future council and administration from selling any part of them.

WE REQUEST COUNCIL TO:

Provide immediate legal protection of the forested properties of McLellan Park (west) and Gray pit lands (McLellan Park east) under Section 30 of the Community Charter which enables Council to preserve all of these properties through a 2/3rd majority vote to designate them as a “heritage conservation” area.

If you would like to sign the petition we will have a list of locations up shortly or you can contact us at our email address savemclellanpark@gmail.com.  We will also be attending some public events to collect signatures. You can also contact us if you would like to help gather signatures.