Prince George city council needs to take a good hard look at the results of their sequential decisions in this Brink Place fiasco since 1996.
I watched with increasing horror council proceedings where Doreen McFarlane and other elders from the neighbourhood tried in vain to get city council to address the breaches of a covenant undertaken on their behalf. To brush this under the rug in a dismissive way without any investigation is not in the best interest of our city.
This development needs to be put on hold until clarity around broken agreements resulting in destruction of the riverbank sees the light of rational inspection by the city.
The mayor and council took refuge behind the process of the "third reading." This process of sequential readings has democratic merit. However it was never the intention of the people who adopted this process for decision making to allow sequential manipulation of the Prince George's planning department.
Please look at the big picture going back to 1996.
Recurring modifications to the planning which allowed a massive growth in the numbers of houses planned for development in this area is a guaranteed way to compound a series of errors.
Disregard of their obligations in the agreement by the developers is one issue.
Failure by the city to hold those accountable is much more disturbing.
It gives the green light for all other developers with less than ideal citizenship to take advantage of the lack of guardianship. It makes the shenanigans of the three card trick come to mind.
It makes a mockery of the democratic process.
Please go and take a look at the photographic evidence that should be in the hands of your planning department.
Better still, go and look at the damage. If you need a guide, there are lots of willing neighbours around to show you.
Just because that night's reading was the third reading does not excuse the mayor and other council members from their duty in a conflict of interest. The city must also be seen to remove any hint of undue influence.
Failure by the city to enforce the covenant taken on behalf of Prince George is a massive mistake.
It is, however, not the city's only mistake. There is an old adage that the only mistake is not to learn from our mistakes. The city has a great opportunity to learn.
Michael O'Malley
Prince George
