A proposed STIR rental residential project on Comox Street that has generated concern in the West End will not go forward to public hearing at this time, says Mayor Gregor Robertson, so that the City can work with the neighbourhood to first identify key planning priorities, issues and community needs.

“We’ve heard from the West End community that people are concerned about new development in their neighbourhood,” said Mayor Robertson. “There’s no question we need more rental housing, both in the West End and throughout Vancouver. However, it’s clear that we also need more discussion about how rental housing goals and other critical needs can be met in the West End.

“I’m inviting community leaders to engage with my office in a special advisory process about the West End,” Robertson said, “and I’ve advised the developer it would not be appropriate to move the project forward at this time until further engagement with the community is completed. We want to hear from people about their current priorities.”

Robertson said that Westbank and Petersen Group, who own the site of a now-closed church, have agreed with this approach. Westbank and Petersen Group have a solid track record of accommodating community needs into new developments, including Woodward’s. Westbank President Ian Gillespie said that their organization understands the need to work with the City and the neighbourhood to better understand community priorities.

“We want to keep working with the neighbourhood and the City to develop a proposal that reflects the need for more rental housing and is sensitive to other priority needs in the West End,” said Gillespie.

Mayor Robertson stressed the importance of new rental housing being created in a way that engages the public.

“Our council is committed to getting new housing built,” said the Mayor. “We’ve shown that we’re not afraid to look at creative options, whether it’s the STIR program to get new rental built, laneway housing, secondary suites or modular housing. But we need to do it in a way that also builds trust and public confidence in the way the city consults with neighbourhoods.

“That’s why waiting for more neighbourhood consultation in the West End is the right thing to do. We need to strive for a win-win.”

The Mayor’s West End Advisory Committee, which will be made up of 12 individuals from the West End, is taking applications up until September 10, 2010. It will be charged with gathering an updated list of community priorities. For more information, please visit www.vancouver.ca/westend.

Media contact:

Kevin Quinlan
Executive Assistant
Office of the Mayor
City of Vancouver
Office: 604.873.7232
Cell: 778.995.2264
www.mayorofvancouver.ca/blog

Stanley Park Ecology Society is a partner with the Vancouver Park Board, and Commissioner Loretta Woodcock will be moderating the panel discussion.

This is a terrific opportunity to learn about current nature and wilderness programs for children …in and around Vancouver. “We’re genetically wired to need nature. Children share a sense of wonder in discovering other living things, and need that connection to nature to lead healthier lives” — Patricia Thomson, SPES Executive Director.

The forum will be launched with the unveiling of the ‘Stanley Park Nature House Community Quilt’, an innovative new project designed by the Stanley Park Ecology Society (SPES) to engage 20 eastside youth in nature that otherwise have few chances to come to the park.

Following the Quilt unveiling will be a panel of medical and educational practitioners speaking on the health benefits that children receive through interacting with Nature.

Featured panelists will talk about how Nature nurtures children:
- moderated by Loretta Woodcock, COPE Park Commissioner
- Becs Hoskins, Exec.Director Child Nature Alliance
- Dr. Randall White, MD Psychiatrist
- Dr. Aimee Taylor, horticultural therapist
- Alana Bliss, student in Ecopsychology at Quest University
- Kristine Webber, Executive Director Young Naturalists Club
and WildBC facilitator
- Roger Keyes, Public Programs Manager, SPES

The public are encouraged to attend this forum and engage the speakers during the Q & A period.

MOTION

The following motion was put forward by Commissioner Mackinnon:

WHEREAS at a special board meeting dated November 27, 2006 the Vancouver Park Board passed a motion to review the Parks Control By-Law relating to captive cetaceans in 2015;

AND WHEREAS the residents of Vancouver value the ability to express their views on             relevant issues of the day;

AND WHEREAS a plebiscite is a non binding democratic tool to survey the public sentiment;

THEREFORE be it resolved that a plebiscite be held during the 2011 Vancouver civic election asking the public if they are in favour of ending the containment of cetaceans in Vancouver parks, including the phase out of existing cetacean exhibits which are located on land leased by the Park Board.

The motion failed to gain the majority support on the Board. The majorities position was largely based on the notion that because Vancouver Park Board had entered into a contract with the Aquarium 20o6 for an expansion with  the provision for a review in 2015 to have a plebiscite now would not be in the best interested of the VPB.

Here is Commissioner Loretta Woodcock’s remarks on the motion before the vote which went down 2 to 5.

Parks and recreation veteran named head of Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation

July 19, 2010 – Aaron Jasper, Chair of the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation and City Manager Penny Ballem today announced the appointment of Malcolm Bromley as General Manager, Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation.

The appointment follows a national search undertaken by a sub-committee of the Board and confirmed by the Board.

Malcolm Bromley has over 30 years of experience in parks and recreation management in Ontario, leading high performance teams, delivering quality programs and leading the integration of recreation programs following the amalgamation of several municipalities into the City of Toronto.

Since 2007, Malcolm has served as Director of Community Recreation for the City of Toronto. He has provided strategic leadership for recreation services across the city including aquatics, ski hills, active living, sport development, community programs and customer service.

Over his career, Malcolm has held supervisory and management positions in parks, forestry, and recreation operations in the Ontario cities of Belleville, North York and Toronto. He has also served as a part-time professor at Humber College where he led classes on a range of recreation topics.

Malcolm has a reputation as a strong builder of partnerships with other levels of government, the public, community groups and other key stakeholders.

Malcolm’s skills and experience within large municipalities will be invaluable to the management of Vancouver’s world renowned parks and recreation facilities.

He will begin his new duties in early September.

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Media contacts:

Savings in saving St. Paul’s?
By Jessica Barrett

Supporters of revitalizing St. Paul’s Hospital at its current Burrard Street site, as opposed to a long-mooted plan to build a new hospital near False Creek, say doing so could present economic benefits beyond eliminating the expense of construction.

In an interview with WE, Brent Granby, president of the West End Residents Association and vice chair of the Save St. Paul’s Coalition, pointed out that St. Paul’s “has an over 100-year social history of being [on Burrard Street].” As a result, he said, other community- and health-oriented groups, including the Dr. Peter Centre, have situated themselves nearby. “There are opportunities for cost savings in terms of partnering with [those] groups.”

Granby said he is optimistic about the hospital’s future on Burrard following reports that Health Services Minister Kevin Falcon has ruled out the controversial idea of downgrading St. Paul’s to a community hospital and building a new full-service hospital on a False Creek site secured by the province. On May 26, Falcon stated in a legislative debate that he had been in talks with Providence Health Care, the agency that runs St. Paul’s, about building a business case for revitalizing the hospital on its current site. A spokesperson from Falcon’s office has confirmed that discussions of that nature are in progress with Providence but are at the preliminary stage.

Granby said he’s looking forward to seeing a definitive plan for the future of St. Paul’s in the West End. “I think the exciting thing right now, from Falcon’s comments in the Legislature…, is that there seems to be a growing consensus right now, both from Providence Health Care and the Minister of Health Services and Vancouver Coastal Health, that renewal of St. Paul’s on the Burrard Street location is going to be the best step to go forward.”

“There’s always been this confusion about what’s going on; it seems now that everyone’s on the same page,” Granby continued. “We’re advocating for a renewal on site. I think the minister’s been pretty clear in that he doesn’t want to talk about [the False Creek site] anymore; he wants to talk about renewal, and that’s going to be a more prudent option for the government to go that way.”

However, Granby said the next challenge for St. Paul’s, if it continues to operate as a full-service hospital, is cost containment. A partnership with area agencies such as the Dr. Peter Centre and the Portland Hotel Society could help decrease costs and ensure people who don’t require intensive care are not occupying hospital beds. Those requiring treatment for mental illness or addiction, or who are in need of palliative care, would be ideal candidates to benefit from a community-health approach, which, after an initial capital investment, could set St. Paul’s up for considerable cost savings in the future, he said. “A lot of those people use a lot of services in the emergency room, and it costs the system a lot of money, but if they were in a supportive-housing situation where they had more community health access on an ongoing basis, as opposed to intensive care, there would be huge savings.”

Spencer Chandra Herbert, NDP MLA for Vancouver-West End, also applauded Falcon’s fledgling commitment to keeping St. Paul’s on Burrard. With the bill for a new hospital estimated to be as much as $1 billion, it makes more financial sense to revitalize the hospital in phases on its current site, he said. “In the kind of fiscal climate we’re in right now, I don’t know how likely it is that a government would be able to find $1 billion to do a new hospital elsewhere, outside of downtown, whereas I think it’s much more likely that we could manage to pull together $100 million and start the process of the seismic upgrades, start with a new wing or a new building at the St. Paul’s site, and make your way through the rest of the property,” he said.

Chandra Herbert noted an option for on-site revitalization had been brought forth by Providence Health Care several years ago, including options to partially finance the project, such as developing retail space along Burrard Street, but the option had not been fully explored by the province at that time. “Because the focus has only been on building a $1 billion hospital outside of downtown, the possibilities for rebuilding onsite have not had the same amount of investigation as they should,” he said.