Frankly Speaking

The provincial government has come through for Surrey students and parents. Premier Christy Clark came to Surrey to announce a substantial school building program on Friday, totalling almost $100 million. The program will create space for 2,700 more students, which will take a significant amount of pressure off crowded schools. The program will use $74.2 million from the province and $25.3 million from the school district to build two new schools, add 600 seats at three crowded elementary schools in the South Newton-Panorama area and purchase land for a new elementary school in Port Kells. One of the best things about the announcement is that the fastest-growing areas of the school district are all included. Grandview Heights gets a new 1,500-student secondary school, which will open in 2020. Clayton gets a new elementary school, to open in 2019. The 600-seats will be added at Panorama Park, Sullivan and Woodward Hill Elementaries, all of which are significantly overcrowde...

Frank Bucholtz photo This development proposal sign went up on 184 Street, shortly after work began on a new high school for Clayton. The new school is expected to open in September, 2018. Fresh on the heels of Premier Christy Clark saying last week that there is no need for a “made in Surrey” solution to the severe overcrowding in some schools, the Surrey Board of Education has unanimously asked the city to stop approving development applications in three neighbourhoods. Grandview, Clayton and South Newton schools are all overcrowded, with portables used to house thousands of students. Meanwhile, the provincial government, which determines when new schools will be built, has been slow to approve new schools for Surrey. This led to the board agreeing unanimously on Thursday (April 21) to ask the city to “temporarily suspend all new development approvals in the Clayton. Grandview/South Surrey and South Newton regions until the Surrey School District receives adequate prov...

LRT vehicles in Surrey would look something like this. In a March 1 meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at city hall, Surrey Mayor Linda Hepner again emphasized the importance of Surrey’s proposal for two LRT lines, as well as other green infrastructure. It was the first visit ever of a sitting prime minister to Surrey city hall, which demonstrates Surrey’s rising importance nationally. It continues to be one of the fastest-growing cities in Canada. It also suffers from a significant infrastructure deficit, with schools, recreation facilities, roads, parks and transit projects all in short supply. “I wholeheartedly welcome Prime Minister Trudeau’s commitment to work with municipalities to build strong and vibrant communities across the country,” said Hepner. “We had a very constructive meeting and I look forward to working with him and his team to bring positive results on issues that intersect on both the local and national level.” The timing of the LRT line cons...