It’s been a busy few months for *RePlan. During the municipal election in October, *RePlan held “Conversations with Candidates” to ask those running for Mayor and Council about False Creek South and how they would govern.
Since November’s election, the group has met with several councilors and Mayor Stewart’s Chief of Staff. Through these discussions, *RePlan hopes to develop a workplan and procedures to restart lease negotiation in an honourable way, consistent with ideas expressed by the new Council.
False Creek South co-ops are coordinating efforts with the Co-op Housing Federation of BC, which has also faced challenges in negotiating leases throughout the city.
Strata leaseholders, whose experiences have been similar, have recently formed a legal bargaining unit – the *RePlan Strata Leaseholders Society. This group is leveraging power in numbers by negotiating with the City as a united body. More than 60% of all strata leaseholders have joined – thanks to the hard work of volunteers – and more than 200 people attended the group’s first Special General Meeting in February.
In other news, *RePlan recently gathered a small group to restart the community planning process. Together, we’re exploring a few sites to better understand how the neighbourhood could accommodate more housing, while maintaining False Creek South’s medium density urban design. This housing could provide much-needed units for seniors, workers, and low and moderate income families.
Over the next few months, *RePlan will be hosting workshops on topics key to this process, so keep an eye out!
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