1000 Friends of Kelowna

[John Zeger]

A new civic organization, 1000 Friends of Kelowna, has arrived on the scene. According to the Kelowna Daily Courier the group will advocate "sustainable development that enhances lifestyle while respecting environmental integrity, community health and safety and a long-term planning vision." Sounds very much like CRCP to me. According to the Capital News this group "plans to monitor development to ensure proper application permit procedures and initial design plans are adhered to." That sounds like the city planning department. "The group claims to be not interested in the divisive politics of development." That sounds rather passive. This group took its name from many similar organizations in the U.S. which call themselves "1000 Friends of [enter city name]." Most of these groups are "smart growth" groups that advocate densification as the answer to the problems of growth rather than controlling the rate of growth (click on "The Myths of Smart Growth" on the CRCP website www.saveparadise.com ). It will be interesting to see what approach this group does advocate, if any.

[tilma]

Let's look at the positive side of things here. This new group also means that more people are getting involved and aware, as well as speaking out. The sparking os discourse is, in my opinion a positive thing.....

[John Zeger]

It has been two weeks since I sent an e-mail to the 1000 Friends of Kelowna organization asking for a statement of their goals and objectives and I still haven't gotten a response. If this group is on the level, they sure are a clandestine bunch.