User Friendly page 38
Times The Langley
T h u r s d a y ,
J u l y
1 1 ,
Blaze Doused page 52
2 0 1 3
www. l a n g l e y t i m e s . com
Sculpture’s destruction is loss for community, says artist
Mobile home park residents picket Township civic facility Protesters worry changes to the official community plan will lead to evictions DAN FERGUSON Times Reporter
BRENDA ANDERSON Times Reporter
The artist whose horse sculpture was torn apart by vandals in a Brookswood park over the weekend said it is the community that has lost something through the senseless act of destruction, not her personally. Marilyn Dyer, a former Langley resident who now lives in South Surrey, said that although she reacted with disbelief to news that the life-sized fibreglass sculpture she spent two and a half months painting had been vandalized, she isn’t upset for herself. For her, the reward was in the creative process. “I had so much joy doing it — my part was done,” said Dyer, a retired Langley Fine Arts School teacher. Instead, it is the Brookswood community, the people who sponsored the sculpture, the Langley Arts Council and Langley as a whole she feels have been injured by the act of vandalism. “I think the wider community should use this as a symbol of the destruction that goes on. “It seems that there are people who just can’t accept that there is something nice in their community,” said Dyer. Working on the assumption that the vandals were youths, Dyer, 80, asked her grandchildren what would make teenagers do it. One answer was that they must be very unhappy people, she said. “They’re angry at life and they have to take it out on something.” It was sometime after 9 p.m. on Saturday that the statue, provided by the Langley Arts Council and sponsored by the Brookswood Merchants Association, was destroyed. The horse was decapitated, chopped off at the hoofs and left lying on the ground. It was discovered by an employee of the Township of Langley’s parks department. continued, PAGE 6
'Highest Prices Paid for Gold & Silver'
Dan FERGUSON/Langley Times
Bill MacDonald and Barb Berthelet were among a group of Forest Green Estates mobile home park residents who picketed Township hall on Monday to protest a proposed change to the park designation they fear will make it easier to redevelop.
KEY K EY L ARGO LARGO
Jewellery & Loans Ltd.
220369 56 AVE.
604-534-8845
ED LIMIT
EDITI
About a dozen Langley mobile home park residents staged a protest at Langley Township hall Monday night, against changes they believe could lead to their wholesale eviction. The demonstrators, who all live in the 160-home Forest Green Estates park at 9080 198 St., carried picket signs that read “no to rezoning our seniors park,” “save our little piece of paradise,” “seniors before progress” and “where will we go?” Spokesman Bill MacDonald said the residents were alarmed to learn council recently gave preliminary approval to a change in the official community plan (OCP) that could make it easier to redevelop the property and force them out. “They didn’t notify us,” MacDonald told The Times. The protest continued inside with the picketers joining about 100 other residents of the mobile home park who packed council chambers for the evening public hearing on the proposed new OCP. Among the many changes in the updated plan is a proposal that would alter the designation of the Forest Green Estates park from its current category of “industrial” to “urban.” The residents fear the change will make it much easier to redevelop the 55-andover gated park, currently zoned for mobile homes, into condominiums. About 20 of the residents spoke in opposition to the OCP change at the hearing. Their remarks were at times emotional, with some paying tribute to the park as a well-maintained and attractive gated community while others predicted many residents will be unable to find reasonably priced alternatives if the park is redeveloped. “We have no place else to go,” said resident Marilyn Garrity. “It’s making us very, very nervous,” resident Stuart Davidson said. Another resident, Wynn Mahoney, said the prospect of a potential rezoning is making it harder for her and other residents to sell their houses. “There is now a cloud over it,” Mahoney said. Both Township staff and council members said there is nothing in the community plan that would change the allowable use of the Forest Green Estates site right away. continued, PAGE 6
ON
YEAR
WARRANTY S5 Cat & Dog Vacuum
Built For Serious Pet Owners. Limited Availability. Limitless Power. biggarysvacuums.com
Langley: #1 - 19638 Fraser Hwy.
604-530-7501
White Rock: #600 - 15355 - 24 Ave.
604-531-7614