Put an end to developing Maple Ridge

It seems that Golden Ears Bridge has exposed Maple Ridge's little green secret to the rest of the world.

The fact that we have a well-earned reputation for being backwards in almost everything we do has meant that the developer/investor hoards have been kept at the gate. In the past this may have been viewed dimly by our community. Only now do we see the benefit of being a backward backwater. How do we know this?

For a start just take a look at the steep increase in tourists visiting Maple Ridge this summer [assuming the Tourist Board has it numbers right]. The attraction of Maple Ridge so far is that it is underdeveloped.

So much effort is put expended by the likes of council members such as Al Hogarth [he should not be picked out over others, but he does invite the comment publicly] on tearing up more and more green space and paving over agricultural land that one wonders what planet he is living on.

In today's world where all but the most self-serving and stupid politicians are fighting to reduce the carbon footprint, decrease reliance on the auto and fight tooth and nail to preserve what little natural resources are left on earth, the idiots in an undeveloped district like Maple Ridge continue to behave as though this were 1955 not 2009.

Maple Ridge could - if we were smart - achieve so much by simply doing nothing. No further applications should go forward to the Agricultural Land Commission. If you live on a farm you should be be paid to farm as opposed to to divide and profit. If you live in forest consider yourself a forest dweller. If you want to move here consider that you may have to live in one of our existing old neighbourhoods or perhaps in a downtown high rise.

We don't need to study the Albion. Leave it as it is.

Whonnock to Mission should be declared out of bounds for any future growth or development.

We missed the development boat over the past few decades. We should be thankful for that. Visitors can come and look, but don't touch. Those in our community who continue to fight for clean rivers and promotion of agricultural preservation, public transport, population densification and responsible development should now stand up and run for council and point Maple Ridge in an old direction, backwards, back to a time when communities were simply livable and livably simple.