Blair Whitmarsh

Yeah thank you The most important thing that we can do and control is time How long does it take to get permitting and to be able to get the appropriate permits to build the housing that we need Langley … has not done a great job in that. In fact, we got an F rating recently in the small independent business rating of how well we do with permitting and getting small businesses to be able to move forward. And development, building houses, is a small business. So that's the first thing. How do we manage time? That We can manage that. Second thing that we need to do is a great job of consulting with the people around to discover what kinds of housing are they looking for and where does that fit best for us to provide in the community. It's critical. That we look at ways that we can process our timing faster. One of them is a 3-1-1 tracking system, which allows people to see online how they do with their permitting process. They can see exactly where it sits in the line. They can see how it moves along and have very specific standards set for the Township of Langley staff on how quickly these permits have to be processed. That'll get housing done quickly and fast and at a at a much cheaper rate.

Thank you, Blair Whitmarsh, Langley Strong. I think there's a common theme here, and that is that we need to be quicker at our permits, quicker in making our decisions to help developers get their approvals so they can begin to build, and to not hold things up. We're talking to other developers in the community. Langley is still one of the slower communities in the region at getting those things completed, so it is about time. We also are doing development cost-charge review. Let's bring it into the public and make sure that the public can see what happens in that review. No hiding it. Get it done. Make it open. Thank you.

Yes, Blair Whitmarsh with Langley Strong. Certainly, you know, on the transportation topic and getting around, I think it is critical that we recognize that Langley Township is not an island to itself. We are part of a region, And the region is important for transit. So working well with the other communities, restoring relationships that would help us to be much better at developing a regional transit network. As far as other kinds of infrastructure that we need, there are some continuation of widening of roads. I think Fraser Highway, the widening was good. I think we can continue to do that. Glover Road is a real choke point in the Township. Long waits in the line to try and turn left up to 216th. That's an area that needs to be addressed. Can't stay the way it is. We need to address that from a transportation point of view and I do think that we need to have public transit available to some of the wider communities not just here in Willoughby which is an important area and certainly BRT I'm fully supportive of but also better transit to places like Aldergrove Fort Langley into Brookswood thank you very much.

Yeah, thank you, Blair Whitmarsh, Langley Strong. Having good discussion, debate, open dialogue is actually critical to government. I would highly encourage that we have those kinds of opportunities to meet and debate and discuss issues. The ability to have that is what people are wanting. I think every one of you would like to be part of that process and give input into what's happening with our local government. And I am absolutely fully supportive of that. And I know the Langley Strong Team is fully supportive of having independent decisions being made at the Council table. Debate and discussion is healthy, It's strong, and we should be advocating for it. Not finding out late in the game of a decision that's happened already that may have been made behind closed doors, not getting a budget that only comes with about one meeting to decide what we want to do with the budget, but instead having a process, having staff to present, having open dialogue and discussion and debate, and having the public be witness to that. We are open to having everyone involved. Everyone in this community should be part of the leadership. It's about servant leadership, and Langley Strong is supportive of servant leadership and open dialogue. Thank you.

Stronger enforcement of Ag bylaw infractions, develop a dedicated rural enforcement team.

Update Rural Plan very soon. Enforce bylaws including no truck parking. Create truck parking options along highway 1 corridor. Re do the Agriculture Viability Strategy.

the AAC should be regularly consulted on agriculture related business/decisions that come to Council - with appropriate timelines for staff or Council feedback. They should be a required body for ag consultation

Water is critical. Losing 8 municipal wells was not good for water use or climate management. We must protect the 18 aquifers in the TOL- working with LFI, AAC and other farming voices to manage water the best we can. Concerned about future of farming with 40% of ALR land being used for agriculture.

Yes, I'm fully supportive of having a climate action plan. We actually do have one as has been mentioned, has 140 items in it. And I think it's important that we become transparent about what we're doing in our plan report regularly about what's happening with the plan and where we stand with that plan. We did, in the last term, there were eight wells that were decommissioned, and those wells would have been very helpful as a backup water system, and so we neglected the climate situation by decommissioning those wells that we have in our community. Lastly, the other thing that I helped to chair was a committee on the Community Forest Management Strategy, which was a plan to increase the tree canopy in the urban areas of our community.

Blair Whitmarsh, Langley Strong. You know, I think that obviously the very first thing is to have considerable public consultation in Fort Langley on what do the people in Fort Langley want to see for the heights of their buildings. We have a number of different heights across. I think it's important that we maintain our heritage quality of our buildings. Some of them are two stories. Some of them have been three stories. I don't think there's a magic number that we can set, but we need to protect the heritage quality of Fort Langley. And we need to have considerable ahead of time, not after it's built, but considerable ahead of time public consultation that is real consultation that we can then apply to whatever height is appropriate that's been decided by the residents who actually live in Fort Langley. Thank you.

Thank you so much for the to the Chamber for hosting this tonight. And thank you for all of you that have come tonight, taking your time to listen to us talk. I really appreciate that. I've lived in this community for 30 years. I'm a grandfather of nine, father of three, raised my family here, and now my grandchildren live in the area. And so I have a deep appreciation for the cost of living and what it costs to raise a family and to support your family in this community. I have a deep appreciation as well for the lives that they want to live and the parks and the trails and the playgrounds and those things that they need. I also work at the University Trinity Western. I work with young people that are in the ages of 18 to 25 years old, and they talk about their future and many of them want to Live in Langley, and I understand that. I believe in transparent government. I believe in government that listens to the people, I believe in government that is open to the people and that is the kind of government you can expect from the Langley Strong team. So I'm here today to represent them and as well other members are here vote Langley Strong on October the 17th.

The role of Council is to serve you. It's also to work together with those other members of Council to create the best Langley that we could possibly have. And I know that the Langley Strong team is prepared to do that. I ask that on October 17th, or in the advanced polls, that you choose the people that you think are going to listen to you best and are going to serve you the best to make this an awesome community. Blair Whitmarsh, Langley Strong.

Good evening, and thanks for coming out here tonight and taking your time to be here. My name is Blair Whitmarsh. I've been on council for nine years, beginning in 2014. And I wanted to see us as a council move towards having a government that manages money well and builds for a positive future for our family. I have raised my three daughters here. Now my nine grandchildren live in Langley. And I see the cost of living. It's very expensive. So we want to build these communities, but do it in a way where we manage money well to keep our taxes as low as possible.

Blair Whitmarsh, Langley Strong. Thanks again for coming tonight. This is an important election, and we want to make sure we have a team in there that is independent thinking. And yes, I'm on a slate called Langley Strong, but we are a team, and we've committed to each other that we are going to be able to vote independently on decisions that we make. We need to balance our budget. We are significantly in debt. All of our financial troubles that we're facing is because of significant debt. We need to manage that well and continue to see our community grow so that families can thrive in this community. Thank you.