When NIMBYs Confess Their NIMBYism

It sounds like Langley City Council decided to roll together all of their controversial issues and get them over with in the same meeting. Both papers have already reported on the possibility of a high-rise on the old Langley Prairie site and the 208th repaving decision. That's a year's worth of controversy right there.

But today's Advance also reports that neighbours are upset with the City taking Metro Vancouver up on their offer of a new trail on the Nicomekl floodplain. The $100,000 trail would run from 203rd Street to Brydon Lagoon, and will sit atop a revamped sewer line Metro is installing:

The residents are resigned to the sewer work, which will disturb an area of about four metres wide. Several did appear before council last Monday to challenge the trail plans. "I'm unashamedly Not In My Back Yard," said resident Peter James.

He and others said the trail will mean they lose privacy in their yards, that there will likely be an increase in crime in their neighbourhood, and wildlife will be chased away. "Nobody's going to see any nature," he commented. "They're going to see my backyard."

He said that if the trail goes ahead, the City should pay for a tall fence. City council is looking at the possibility of cost-sharing on fencing.

Rhys Griffiths of the Langley Field Naturalists spoke out against the trail's impacts on wildlife, echoing many of the residents' concerns.

In the end, a majority of council rejected the NIMBY arguments, and decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth. They will proceed with the trail.