MID-CENTURY MANIA AT RIVER MARKET
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WRIGHT BIG SPENDER IN CIVIC CAMPAIGN
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PLEASANTLY DISCONNECTED
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WEDNESDAY
MARCH 4 2015 www.burnabynewsleader.com
Christina Crook, who grew up in New Westminster, did a month-long experiment to go offline. PAGE A9
City hydro rates to go up 6% on April 1
MARIO BARTEL/NEWSLEADER
Winter may still have a grip on much of the rest of North America, but the spring crocusses are already in full bloom in New Westminster’s Queen’s Park. The mild, sunny weather is expected to persist until at least the weekend, when spring showers are forecast to return.
QPRA debates Urban Academy plans Residents concerned over traffic, safety, affordable housing Mario Bartel
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A motion for the Queen’s Park Residents Association (QPRA) to oppose Urban Academy’s expansion plan passed at the group’s regular general meeting recently. But the association’s president says it won’t yet take an official position on the private school’s plan to build a new 45,000-square-foot expansion behind its current home
in the historic Robson Manor on Third Street. Berril Parks said a motion from the floor at the meeting held on Feb. 22 passed 38-13. But because the vote was unexpected, there was no notice given to residents of the vote so it won’t hold much sway. “We weren’t formally looking to do that,” said Parks of the surprise vote. “There was some disagreement in the room.” Instead, said Parks, the association will continue surveying the area’s 500-600 households to gauge the neighbourhood’s
sentiments about the school’s plan to expand. An online poll launched Feb. 15 has already garnered 225 responses. “If we had 225 people show up at a meeting, we’d be ecstatic,” said Parks of the poll, which runs until March 16. Parks said Queen’s Park residents have expressed concerns about the size of the school’s expansion, its impact on traffic and safety in the neighbourhood, the use by the school’s students of Tipperary Park across the street, and the loss of affordable housing because a
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small walk-up apartment building on Manitoba Street would be demolished to accommodate the new school structure. Urban Academy has offered to help relocate residents of the building who would be displaced as well as contribute to their moving expenses. While the expansion project still has to be considered by New Westminster’s advisory planning commission, as well as two readings by city council and a public hearing, Parks said it’s been a divisive issue in the neighbourhood. Please see STORY, A9
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New Westminster residents will likely pay six per cent more for their electricity in 2015. That’s the increase recommended by a staff report to council on Monday. The new rate would come into effect on April 1. The report said the six per cent jump is in line with increases set by the province, and the city must match those as it purchases its electricity from BC Hydro. The increase would mean a household that uses 1,000 kWh a month will now pay $106.31 for that electricity. “Even with the proposed rates, electricity rates in New Westminster will continue to be among the lowest rates in North America,” noted the report. In fact, a comparison chart included in the report said only Montreal residents pay less for electricity, $100 per 1,000 kWh while residents of San Francisco pay $370 and rates in New York City are $435 per 1,000 kWh. Official notice of the rate increase, once it’s adopted, will appear on the CityPage in the NewsLeader as well as on the city’s website and social media channels.