Dear Editor
When the Kask Brothers came in the 1920s, Barnet was an isolated village served by ferry. Same was true when the oil companies came in the 1930s, and the city gave them what had been a swimming beach in Confederation Park.
Burnaby has since grown up all around the industries, and homes may now be threatened by them, as we saw with the recent golf course fire near the refinery. It’s time the industries moved on and made space for residents.
After the Barnet Mill closed in the 1950s, concerned residents lobbied the city for decades to clean up the site and create the beautiful Barnet Marine Park, Burnaby’s only public seaside beach. This park is now so popular you can’t find a parking space there on a nice weekend.
We should not allow the Kask Brothers site go to developers to build unaffordable condos, or to more industry. Instead, let’s lobby the city to add it to Barnet Marine Park, so we can all enjoy it.
Lise Kreps, Burnaby
