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Ideas launched for District of North Vancouver’s Delbrook Lands

District of North Vancouver residents are hoping the Delbrook Lands in the near future will be occupied by green space, indoor facilities for child care and seniors, and affordable housing – but only if someone else pays for it.
Delbrook Dialogue

District of North Vancouver residents are hoping the Delbrook Lands in the near future will be occupied by green space, indoor facilities for child care and seniors, and affordable housing – but only if someone else pays for it.

Those are the results of a public input process meant to help council decide what to do with the 1.7-hectare site on Queens Road once the new Delbrook Community Centre, replacing the old William Griffin Centre, opens in 2017. The district held a day-long “deliberative dialogue” with 89 residents from around the district in June to collect and refine ideas.

If any of the land is to be used for affordable housing, it should fall to the province, the federal government or a non-profit to cover the cost, the residents strongly felt.

“Participants weren’t interested in seeing part of the land sold to fund their own recommendations. If we take them at their word, they’re willing to accept less on the site in order to retain public ownership and, in a strong way, they told us they weren’t interested in selling the land to meet other district financial priorities,” said Robin Prest, program manager for the

SFU Center for Dialogue, which led the consultation process.

District council was largely receptive to the recommendations and have asked staff to start a detailed analysis of the recommendations, including financial implications.

“From my point of view, the findings of this group of 89 North Vancouverites are common sense recommendations. The desire to achieve a multi-use arrangement emphasizing green space and community amenities with an open mind to non-market housing – housing that’s required by North Vancouver families if that can be organized through partnership with non-profit  organizations and senior levels of government,” said Coun. Robin Hicks.

Others on council expressed relief that the land, which the district purchased from the school district in the 1960s, would remain owned by the public.

“This land is owned by the residents of the District of North Vancouver. They’ve paid for it and they want to keep it,” said Coun. Lisa Muri.

But Coun. Mathew Bond cautioned council that counting on extra funding may result in having to re-evaluate the plans for the site.

“It seems people would like a lot of things – green space, seniors care facilities, child care facilities and, potentially, non-market housing but the support for some of those potentially more expensive, costly initiatives is only there if someone else pays for it,” he said. “If someone else isn’t there to pay for it, then what happens to the site?”

A more detailed report on options for council to consider is expected later in the fall.