Comments on: Land Use Plan Revisions: A Massive Conflict of Interest. From Here.

By: Neal Yonson

Neal Yonson — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 22:47:41 +0000

Concerned,

Is there an editing problem with this article, or others? If there is, please let me know the details.

By: concerned

concerned — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 22:37:30 +0000

you should edit your articles more often…

By: Anelyse Weiler

Anelyse Weiler — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 19:32:51 +0000

Thanks for this writing this insightful critique of the Land Use Plan process, Neal.

Your point about the need to specify the composition of the proposed housing density is a very important one.

I would also emphasize that, simply put, amendments to increase housing density on other parts of campus make it possible to keep housing off of the UBC Farm. Thus, if the type of density were reflective of much of the community’s priorities, then increased density would present a win-win situation of a secured 24-ha land base for the UBC Farm along with more affordable housing options on campus.

By: Maayan

Maayan — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 08:50:17 +0000

eh, I was just complaining yesterday about no updates on here.
Great article Neal!!
I think that the more people know about the governance issues at UBC (like, by reading detailed, insightful articles like this one) the more it will come to the forefront. We saw with the UBC Farm issue that it took many years until the issue, and the community’s stand on it were so clear they could no longer be ignored. It took a long time though, and various different itterations of advocacy initiatives (including ones that didn’t happen, like the farm fee referendum).
It’s just an example of an issue coming up against CC&P that needed alot of time to “warm up” even though the facts were pretty clear from an early stage. It’s similar with the governance thing – we know it’s a problem, we’ve known it for years – but the voume needs to be raised.

By: Blake Frederick

Blake Frederick — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 00:34:37 +0000

This is a great article Neal. Despite the clear conflict of interest you’ve laid out, I am very pessimistic about UBC changing its course anytime soon. This time around there is no SDS to raise a ruckus and no AMS to apply backroom lobbying pressure.

It would be great if UBC actually started to seriously work on improving the undergraduate and graduate experiences instead of focusing on matters better handled by a municipal government.