Media Release (PDF Format)
Media Release (Doc Format)
For Immediate Release
Vancouver (CP) — Mission developer Dean Hodgson, misled listeners of the CBC radio program “The Early Edition” last week, with misinformation and half-truth’s about his proposed gravel pit.
Steelhead Community Association chair Mark Diamond and Hodgson were on CBC radio with host Rick Cluff, to air concerns the community has about Hodgson turning his 80 acre property into a gravel pit.
Diamond opened the program saying, “The proposed gravel pit is an industrial extraction of 880,000 tonnes of aggregate right out of the middle of our residential community.” He also said residents are not opposed to gravel pits in their area, stating that residents drive by them every day coming home, but he also said, “This one gets plopped right into the heart of our community.”
Hodgson down played the concerns saying, “I only have three neighbours that touch my property and I can’t even see their homes.” Diamond diagreed with Hodgson saying there were nine properties that could be affected by his proposal. What wasn’t discussed were the more than 50 other properties in the immediate area that would need to endure years of continuous noise, air, and water pollution from heavy equipment and excessive truck use. Hodgson tried to discredit the amount of truck traffic making reference to the current use of the one-road community by Teal-Jones logging and B.C. Hydro. What he failed to mention was their use of the road was seasonal, for a period of weeks per year, and not at a rate of 80 tandem trucks a day for four years.
Throughout the interview, Hodgson implied that his development plans were insignificant, stating that he was at the tail end of three kilometers of gravel pits. Diamond disagreed saying, “There is a 1.2 kilometre buffer zone between the existing pits and the community of Steelhead.” Hodgson pandered to the listening audience with a series of half-truths and embellishments to paint the residents of Steelhead and Mission Mayor and Council as unreasonable in their opposition to his proposals to develop his property.
When asked by Cluff how all this started, Hodgson said his initial housing proposal for the property was for 1.75 acre zoning, which was later adjusted to two plus acres in a later proposal. With disdain Hodgson said, “They call it high-density and urban sprawl.” Diamond corrected Hodgson’s inaccurate accounting of events, saying the first housing proposal was for 0.88 acres, or 61 lots. That was the urban sprawl the community was against.
Diamond also corrected Hodgson on who it was that turned down his proposal, it was the Mission Mayor and Council. Hodgson’s failure to meet a mayoral request to have an independent survey done of the community was a major reason for his zoning proposal being rejected. To hear the interview in its entirety click on the following link http://www.cbc.ca/
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For more information contact:
Mark Diamond, Chairman
Steelhead Community Association
P: 604.826.1558 E: media@divi.steelheadcommunity.com
