Wreck Beach Update: Towers to be scaled back
However, read this self-serving article, put out unilaterally by the University of British Columbia, and think to yourself . . . 'yes, we have won a partially victory', then read the Naturist Action Committee Update following the article to see why we must continue with the fight against the UBC and why this isn't the victory we stand fast for, but simply a stage along the way. The University of British Columbia is attempting to put a positive spin on the 'accommodations' they have made in order to make themselves seem like the aggrieved party.
Previous posts on Wreck Beach are: Tower View Depictions, Battle Lines Are Drawn, Wreck Beach Needs Your Help, and an October 2005 Update on Wreck Beach.
UBC scales back plans for new residences againBy ROD MICKLEBURGH
Saturday, January 28, 2006
Vancouver -- The buff battle of the bluffs is over, according to the University of British Columbia. To end a raging controversy over plans to build several high-rise student residences overlooking the nudist paradise of Wreck Beach, UBC announced yesterday a further scaling back of the project.
What was once set to be four, 20-storey towers will now be two 18-storey buildings and one 17-storey high-rise, university officials said.
Wreck Beach enthusiasts had waged a long campaign against the project, charging the tops of the towers would spoil the view from the beach below and allow residences to peep down at nude sunbathers.
"The decision clearly balances the needs of our students with the concerns raised by the community throughout the consultation process," UBC president Martha Piper
The Naturist Action Commitee's Update posted the day after the unilateral, one-sided newspaper article:
NATURIST ACTION COMMITTEE
UPDATE
http://www.naturistaction.org
Copyright 2006 by the Naturist Action Committee, which is responsible for its content. Permission is granted for the posting, forwarding or redistribution of this message, provided that it is reproduced in its entirety and without alteration.
DATE : January 29, 2006
SUBJECT: Wreck Beach
TO : All Naturists and other concerned citizens
Dear Naturist,
An article published yesterday in The Globe & Mail gave the impression that the University of British Columbia (UBC) had relented on the issue of residential towers that are planned to loom over Wreck Beach. The article portrays the long-standing controversy as having been resolved.
The newspaper article is quite misleading. Unfortunately, the matter is not resolved.
Beginning with an opening phrase that reads, "The buff battle of the bluffs is over, according to the University of British Columbia," the newspaper article merely repeats UBC's spin concerning the towers and the Official Community Plan (OCP) that is supposed to govern development.
STATEMENT FROM THE WRECK BEACH PRESERVATION SOCIETY
The Wreck Beach Preservation Society (WBPS) has released the following statement:
"The buff battle of the bluffs is NOT over! With characteristic disregard for the governance role of the Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD), UBC's Board of Governors defied the recent GVRD Staff request to lower the remaining two towers to 16 storeys.
"This so-called balanced 'scaling back of the project' does NOT address the needs of over 6000 students who signed the anti-Phase 2 petitions out of 47,000 signatories. The simple fact is that only the GVRD can determine if the towers are in compliance with the OCP.
"UBC has no business whatsoever pronouncing its development to be consistent with the OCP by usurping GVRD jurisdiction over planning in Electoral District A, in which Wreck Beach lies. If the UBC towers are not further lowered, they will violate several GVRD visibility resolutions.
"It is time that GVRD parkland stewards call UBC's bluff or the obscenities will continue."
NO ACTION IS REQUESTED AT THIS TIME
This is an Update. Neither NAC nor the Wreck Beach Preservation Society is requesting that you take action at this time. Your responses to past calls for action have been effective and appreciated. Thank you!
The Wreck Beach Preservation Society will determine what future actions may be appropriate. Watch for NAC Action Alerts, Advisories and Updates on this issue.
MORE INFORMATION
For background and additional information on Wreck Beach and this situation, visit the Local Issues section of the Naturist Action Committee web site. Here's a direct link to NAC's Wreck Beach discussion:
http://www.naturistaction.org/Local_Issues/Wreck_Beach_2004/wreck_beach_200
4.html
For the latest from the Wreck Beach Preservation Society, visit:
http://www.wreckbeach.org.
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