Land Use, Shmand Use.

So, the Land Use Plan (LUP) Consultation that’s currently happening is boring as shit. If you’re into that kind of hackery, UBC Insiders recently published three articles about the LUP and Gage South. Now, dear readership, it took a lot for me to get to the point where I cared about this. Really, what does the LUP have to do with me? Yesterday I went to the consultation, and wasn’t taken seriously as a student, and it pissed me off. Students comprise of around 8000 students living on campus, whereas there are only around 6000 UNA residents (those people who live in those condos on campus). 

UBC Campus & Community Planning is looking to increase population on campus from these 6000 to between 25,000-35,000 residents. Combine this with their previous commitment to double student housing on campus, and we’re looking at a campus with up to 51,000 residents for at least eight months of the year. This is more than triple the amount of people currently living on campus, and don’t forget about the other 29,000 commuter students lingering around campus from dawn ’til dusk.

This affects you, and you need to speak up as a student…because not enough are.

Why should you give a fuck? In short, because UBC Campus and Community Planning is planning to build condos where the current bus loop is. You know, right by MacInnes Field where all the concerts are held, right by the SRC, SUB, new SUB, Aquatic Centre…the heart of campus. But really, why should you care? Because UBC C&CP aren’t opening this up for discussion and it’s not on their “priority” list. They said we can discuss this later, but no one has discussed the “old” plan until now…13 years later. By the time they get around to “consulting” about Gage South, there may be nowhere left on campus to transfer the density.

It’s really, really important that we are given the chance to talk about this NOW…because I’m assuming most of you don’t want old people living in our fun area of campus, complaining about noise, and wrecking all our fun.

So you should probably fill out their consultation form. However, it’s super boring.

The survey is divided into four sections, and all the questions are very leading and double-barrelled. However, don’t let them win. Here’s to making the LUP sexy (seriously, such an ugly acronym), drink up. Please do drink while you fill it out, right here, and speak now.

Under transferring housing density, don’t forget to bring up the issue of Gage South (where the condos will be) and how it is so not cool that they are not putting Gage South up for discussion, that it’s not academic land, and that you don’t think it’s cool to build market housing there – whether its faculty or not, it’s still old people in our party land.

Consultations close TOMORROW, October 15th. Fill it out here.

3 thoughts on “Land Use, Shmand Use.

  1. Katherine

    This consultation needed to have your name and email to submit. What a ridiculous consultation process.

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