Lauren Vanderdeen

1 month ago | aljazeera.com | Lauren Vanderdeen

Vancouver, Canada - When Leslie Macfarlane found out she and her husband were being evicted from a mobile home park in a Vancouver suburb last year, she said she felt "absolute rage" - then fear. Her home was set to be demolished as part of a huge low-rise apartment complex redevelopment. Recommended Stories The 67-year-old retiree knew how difficult it would be to find rental housing in the notoriously expensive Lower Mainland region. She predicted correctly: Her housing hunt proved futile.

1 month ago | burnabynow.com | Lauren Vanderdeen

Burnaby city councillors had high praise for a “beautiful” plan to redevelop a section of the BC Parkway into a linear park, but there’s no money in the budget for the long-term project. Councillors called the plan “wonderful,” “exciting” and “something we could all be proud of" at a planning and development committee meeting April 9. The committee ultimately recommended council approve a high-level framework plan for the project.

2 months ago | burnabynow.com | Lauren Vanderdeen

The City of Burnaby wants to make Deer Lake swimmable again, but experts say it'll take a lot of work to get there. Researchers with SFU, partnering with Burnaby's Civic Innovation Lab, have assessed the state of the lake and recently proposed possible remediation strategies at a presentation to Burnaby's environment committee March 31. Coun. Joe Keithley summarized the presentation: "The lake's in rough shape." He reminded the committee it used to be a swimming hot spot.

2 months ago | burnabynow.com | Lauren Vanderdeen

Burnaby wants to keep raw sewage out of local waterways by separating the last of its combined sewer and stormwater pipe system. Just 36 kilometres of combined pipes remain in Burnaby, but there’s work to be done beyond that, according to staff at a presentation on combined sewer separation March 24.

2 months ago | burnabynow.com | Lauren Vanderdeen

It’s time for Burnaby residents to have their say on this year’s draft budget, including a 5.8 per cent tax increase. Residents have until Wednesday, April 9 to share feedback on the five-year financial plan. The city’s regular property tax rate is proposed to increase by 3.9 per cent, equivalent to a $78 increase for an average residential property assessed at about $1.4 million. It would be a $1,237 increase for a business assessed at about $6.2 million.