DOUCLAS COLLEGE LIBRARY,

t Ld
I would like to express V
thanks to all who have supported
the Institute in its efforts
to keep the facts about the
ecological importance of the
area in the minds of the public

THE MUD BAY CONTROVERSY

Just as the "Mad Hatter"
went to print last week
Surrey Council rescinded its
approval of the Bold Inter-

national Realty development

 

proposal in Mud Bay.

 

Council rescinds approval

and of the aldermen of Surrey.

Barry Leach

op
i/

  

4 a
bd dete Kas Srer & Dec !973

Birei marina given last rites by

By Sun Council Reporter

Their dream of a Mud Bay
with “99 per cent for fish
and birds, one percent for
people” was shattered irre-
vocably Monday night, when
the proposed Surrey Bay Ma-

rine Park of Birel enterpris- .

es was killed once and for
all by Surrey Council.

Ald. Rita Johnston was the
lone holdout in the voting,

-thee fourth time council has
-cast ballots on the issue—

twice in favor and now twice

» against.

Council decided to rescind ;

its most recent approval upon
receipt of yet another brief
Opposing: the scheme that
would have converted 145
acres of salt marsh on the

-‘horth lip of the Nicomekl

opposite Blackie Spit into a
major marina-park-recrea-
tion complex.

The “straw that broke the
camel”s back” came from
R.A. Crouter of Environment
Canada, manager of the south-
ern operations branch il. the
Pacific region of the agency.

In a letter to council Crou-

‘ter pointed out the import-

ance of estuarine areas “in
the rearing and feeding of
juveline salmonoids and other
fishes.” ;

Crouter also hinted that
extensive dredging would be
necessary under the hbirel
proposal and that Environ-
ment Canada “is: opposed to
dredge and fill operations in
productive estuaries because
of the resultant and inevit-
able loss of valuable habi-
tat” and also because “the
effects of large scale pro-

 

jects involving dredging and
filling of estuarine areas are
irreversible and have devast-
ing effects on virtually all
aquatic/marine communi-
ties.” 5

He pointed out that the Nico-
mekl estuary will be part
of an all-encompassing in-
ventory of both Boundary and
Mud Bays during 1974-75,
and that “the impact state-
ment prepared by Stanley As-
sociates Engineering Ltd.
does not include a descrip-
tion of the wildlife and fish-
eries resources of Mud Bay
or any impact statement con-
cerning these resources.”

Though not declaring any
“unalterable” opposition to
the proposal, the mere con-
cern expressed by Crouter
was sufficient to motivate
Ald. Bob Wenman to move
that council rescind approval
for Lot
a development area that it
made on Oct. 15. :

Wenman called the pro-
posed development one. that
is needed in the area but said
that Birel simply “has cho-
sen the wrong spot. As a
result of (Crouter’s) letter
it is clear what damage will
be inherent from this devel-
opment, and Surrey Council
would do them a disservice
by letting them proceed fur-
ther.”

Wenman invited Birel to
look ior another site in the
South Surrey or Delta areas,
saying “we want to encourage
them to build a marina in
Surrey but the problem is
location.”

95 being declared .

Two others formerly sup-
porting the development were
Ald. Bill Fomich and the may-
or, both switching their votes
to “nay” as did Ald. Bill
Vogel and Ald. Ed McKitka
who also supported the Oct.
15 approval vote.

_ Fomich explained his re-
versal by saying “up until
now I’ve been 100 per cent
behind the proposal, but I”
also said that if we were ad-
vised by some government
agency of the damage the de-

velopment would cause. the
ecology, then no way should
we let it go ahead. Clearly
now we have indications of
some problems with the en-
vironment, so there is no
question about it. It cannot
go here.” ' /

No word from senior go-
vernment officials about the
project has been officially
received by council, but in-

dications were that Victoria-.

did not want a marina at:
that estuary and that that.

' position was made quite clear :

to special council on Mon--.
day afternoon. ~

Surrey