Dear Editor,
Re: Local tree advocate worries slow process leading to clearcutting, Burnaby NOW, Nov. 8.
Give me strength. With regard to the proposed tree bylaw, why has our mayor and council capitulated to the demands of a handful of busy bodies? There is no wholesale deforestation taking place in Burnaby. Any accelerated tree removal is the result of people’s rejection of the bylaw.
It is incredible to believe that our mayor would base such an overbearing and unnecessary bylaw on a survey completed by only 158 people (.088 per cent of the population.) Furthermore, the survey itself was unregulated, badly flawed and biased in its questions. Anyone could have completed those surveys, and multiple questionnaires could have been entered by anyone.
The first question that should have been asked is: Are you satisfied with the current tree bylaw? The second question should have been: Are you willing to pay $70 to $500 for a tree permit?
All in all, this bylaw is not “reasonable,” and $2,000 to $10,000 fines fit the very definition of draconian.
As far as paying for the annual cost of maintaining two full-time tree police, that money will come out of the pockets of Burnaby residents. As lone dissenting councillor Sav Dhaliwal noted, people will be less likely to plant trees in the future, the very opposite of tree protection.
I also have a problem with the fact that the general public was not invited to speak at the meeting where this unwarranted and intrusive bylaw was proposed. I like trees as much as anyone, but I’ll be damned if I want the way I enjoy my heavily taxed property dictated by a bunch of pseudo environmentalists.
What is worse, the proposed bylaw doesn’t just deal with “iconic” trees but all trees, whether useful and wanted or nuisance and unwanted.
So, to quote Mayor Derek Corrigan, “Have courage, stand up for your community.”
I am requesting that someone, anyone on council put forward a motion to reconsider the proposed tree bylaw until a properly regulated and unbiased survey of Burnaby residents is done.
