Editor:
Water vs. development is too simplistic. Yes, we need to find a way to store more water for summer use and yes, we need to stop our current kind of development. It has been shown, that more development does not make more affordable housing, just more housing to sell to speculators.
What we really need, is housing for our essential workers. Six-bedroom houses don’t fit the bill unless we are expecting our essential workers to pile into a six-bedroom house and share a kitchen. Co-op housing, which is built for that purpose, would be more realistic. We need more housing stock to be non-market, affordable for our waitresses, store clerks, nurses, police, ambulance drivers, cleaning staff, postal workers, etc.
We need to stop housing prices being driven up by countering speculation and real estate investment trusts. We could use a tax on speculation to build non-market affordable housing. We could use public land for the public good by building affordable, non-market housing that incorporates new clean technology as showcases for green building methods. We could lead the way to a sustainable future.
Joan Payne, Sechelt
