Stop the Gondola!

The results of a phone survey conducted by Kennedy Stewart, MP of the Burnaby-Douglas riding where the proposed gondola to SFU would be built, has been released.  The results of the mail-in survey have not been released yet.  The full press release is below:

NOVEMBER 2, 2011

BURNABY MOUNTAIN GONDOLA DOES NOT HAVE FULL SUPPORT OF LOCAL RESIDENTS

MP Kennedy Stewart wants better plan from Translink

BURNABY, BC – A telephone survey completed by over 1000 local residents conducted by Burnaby-Douglas MP Kennedy Stewart shows only 47% support Translink’s plan to construct a gondola from the Production Way Skytrain Station to SFU’s Burnaby Mountain Campus. 39% oppose the plan while 14% are undecided.

Stewart says, “During the May 2011 election campaign I committed to consult with the public about the gondola project. These survey results indicate that while the gondola has considerable support, Translink will have to present a better plan if they hope to gain widespread backing for the project. While the plan has merits, many people I spoke to while door-knocking within the affected neighbourhoods are very concerned about the costs of the project, and how it might impact the environment and their quality of life.”

Conducted for Stewart by Direct Leap Technologies Incorporated, 5,831 households were contacted by phone in the area bounded by Duthie Road, North Road, Lougheed Highway, and Burrard Inlet.

Stewart was elected to the riding of Burnaby-Douglas for the New Democratic Party in May 2011. He is the Official Opposition Critic for Western Economic Diversification, Associate Natural Resources Critic for Western Canada and member of the Standing Committee on Natural Resources. Kennedy holds a Ph.D. from the London School of Economics and is a tenured associate professor on leave from Simon Fraser University’s School of Public Policy.

For more information, please contact:

Jaclyn Moneypenny, Office of Kennedy Stewart, 613-996-5597 or kennedy.stewart.a2@parl.gc.ca

More information on the gondola:

Translink: http://www.translink.ca/en/Be-Part-of-the-Plan/Studies/Burnaby-Mountain-Gondola.aspx

No Gondola: http://www.nogondola.org

On September 12th, TransLink released the results of their consultation phase on the feasibility of the proposed Burnaby Mountain gondola.  This phase consisted of meetings with various stakeholders and community members between May 10th and June 30th, 2011.  The main method of submitting input during this phase was by completing TransLink’s feedback form which posed various questions regarding the gondola; 561 forms were submitted at the meetings, online and in hard-copy directly to TransLink.

The most compelling result of this phase, based on the results of the forms, is the response to the following question:

To what extent do you agree that this would be a good solution to solving some of the challenges of traveling to and from Burnaby Mountain?

Of the 561 responses, 75% strongly disagreed that the gondola would be a good solution to the travel challenges of Burnaby Mountain.  While Citizens Opposed to the Gondola believes that community consultation on this project has been conducted poorly, the results of this report speak for themselves; the citizens of B.C. do not support spending $120+ million on a gondola on Burnaby Mountain.  We call on TransLink and the Province of B.C. to act on these results by not proceeding on this project any further.

The full report can be found here: Phase Two Consultation Summary Report (mirror).  Also, TransLink has published the report’s appendices in their document library (see docs on Sept 12th).

Chris Rarinca and Marita Wallace from the Citizens Opposed to the Gondola (COG) presented to Burnaby City Council last night (August 29) voicing their opposition to the SFU gondola project and asking Burnaby not to grant TransLink permits in case the project is approved.

COG described some examples of TransLink’s biased public consultation techniques, debunked project claims, and argued the case for working on regional transportation projects instead of what they called a “pet project”. COG referred to Burnaby’s own Social Sustainability Strategy and pointed out that the SFU gondola project would damage a community that has been green and sustainable for 35 years in favour of UniverCity, a new community that now claims the green and sustainable label.

Mayor Corrigan stated that the Council felt they could not withhold permits if the project is approved but sympathized with the delegation, eloquently expressing his frustration with TransLink, an organization that is not elected and therefore not accountable to the public. Additionally, Mayor Corrigan also emphasized that TransLink has made decisions with which he and other mayors in this region have disagreed. Other Burnaby councilors spoke in response to the COG presentation, notably Councilors Dhaliwal, Jordan, and McDonell.

The consensus is that COG has done their research and expressed themselves well but will have to make their opposition heard at the provincial level, since TransLink answers only to the Minister of Transportation, Blair Lekstrom. COG representative Marita Wallace indicated that they will be going to the provincial government next.

Citizens Opposed to the Gondola will be presenting to the Burnaby City Council on Monday August 29th at 7:00pm. Be there to show your support!

Where:
Council Chamber,
Burnaby City Hall,
4949 Canada Way,
Burnaby, BC
Map

When: Monday August 29th at 7:00pm – Be there at least 10 minutes early

Welcome to our web site. We are Citizens Opposed to the Gondola that Translink is planning to build on Burnaby Mountain.