Found this laughable story the other day at the Surrey Archives about Campbell Heights (aka: Stokes Pit, part of the Little Campbell Watershed). Campbell Heights was the official name of the what former Mayor McCallum called the “largest industrial development in North America”. Today, it’s one of the best of example of how not to develop land – especially land that is in environmentally sensitive areas!
And to think, City staff and Council promise residents clean, green industry by “luring” high tech companies to Surrey! What the hell happened to that plan? How come Surrey, who’s far more strategically positioned in the region in relation to the borders and highway access, missed out on the Microsoft campus, while Richmond got it? How come the failed Phase 1 of Campbell Heights is full of large, sprawled, empty warehouses – providing only 15 jobs per acre?!
Two thousand acres of southeast Surrey will soon be home to a high-tech business park, if city planners have their way.
The city plans to create a “high tech” business park in the area, providing homes for technology firms.
Taiwan-based Mosel Vitelie is currently negotiating with the provincial government over the possibility of building a $2 billion microchip processing plant in the area.
A public information meeting held in Campbell Heights last Thursday served as an uncomfortable remind for several people that the mass of greenspace twice the size of Stanley Park will soon be home to industry.
And Surrey plans to make sure the welcome mat is out. The motivation is simple – industry and commerce is a preferred source of property tax. It brings in almost three times as much as residential, while drawing much less municipal services.
Sounds like a lot of failed promises to me.
