Langley residents, environmental groups say proposed industrial development would destroy essential wetlands

Some Langley, B.C., residents and environmental organizations are pushing back against a proposed expansion of an industrial development into a protected wetland area they say is being slowly destroyed.

Vancouver-based developer Beedie Group is offering $22.3 million for the Township of Langley to rezone 37.23 hectares (92 acres) of land, currently zoned as a mix of golf course and rural land, allowing it to add almost 15 hectares of that land to the Gloucester Industrial Park just west of the municipality's border with Abbotsford.

The Township estimates the additional 6.47 hectares of industrial building space would bring about 700 jobs to the area.

If passed, the proposal would also see the remaining 22.25 hectares of land added to the protected West Creek watershed catchment area, which is jointly owned with Metro Vancouver.

The majority of council voted last week to pass the proposal's second reading to allow for public consultation, which begins on Monday, June 12.

If the re-zoning is approved, the final decision to allow a development permit would rest with the provincial and federal governments.

"Township of Langley cares about environmental stewardship and strives to find a balance between providing economic growth and jobs while preserving the environment and sensitive areas," a spokesperson wrote in an emailed statement to CBC News.

But some residents say the proposed plan is yet another step in the "whittling away" of an important ecosystem.

West Creek Awareness, Langley Field Naturalists, Climate Crisis Langley Action Partners, and Watchers of Langley Forests all opposed the proposal, and a petition calling for it to stop has already received 685 signatures.

When the land was removed from the provincial Agricultural Land Reserve in 1988, 51.79 hectares (128 acres) were protected. 

Now just 37.23 hectares (92 acres) remain, and a detention pond had to be dug in order to deal with excess storm water and flash floods due to the reduced wetland area, said Mike Innis, president of the Glen Valley Watersheds Society.

The proposal would bring that down to 22.25 hectares (55 acres).

Wetlands help mitigate flooding by storing storm water, serve as carbon sinks, and help mitigate heat islands during extreme heat events like the 2021 heat dome, according to Kirk Robertson, vice-president of the GVWS.

They can purify water and restore water supplies during dry weather, and are also home to delicate species including Coho salmon, beavers, frogs and deer.

"We're looking at the destruction over time of an entire ecosystem," said Roberston.

"This is spawning ground and it's very troubling when you look at the report from staff to council where they don't even indicate the watercourses here that have fish."

No environmental assessment of the project has been done yet, he added.

"You don't look around this area and think this is the best area to build more warehouses and parking lots," added resident Brittany Gardner. "Developers just want to put it anywhere even if it's a natural habitat."

Township of Langley Mayor Eric Woodward, whose slate voted to progress the proposals' first and second readings, said he will weigh all input from the public and environmental experts in his vote on the rezoning.

"The picturesque areas that are being used within videos or social media posts to raise awareness of this application are actually those areas being proposed to be dedicated for permanent preservation, not development of any kind," Woodward said in an emailed statement to CBC.

The proposal would also see Beedie expand the detention pond near the headwaters of the West and Nathan creeks, Woodward noted.

Coun. Michael Pratt, who voted against both readings of the motion, said he is concerned about encroachment on the environmentally sensitive lands despite the need for more industrial areas.

"The whole concept of an industrial estate out in the middle of nowhere in an environmentally sensitive area is obviously quite dated," Pratt told CBC on Saturday. "We're dealing with the repercussions of decisions that were made many years ago.

Robertson, Innis and residents are also concerned the 55 acres the developer says it will protect would be on the chopping block themselves next time.

"At what point do we say enough?" said Gardner. "It's death by a thousand cuts."