NEW HOUSING DEVELOPMENTS WILL ALSO BE ACCOMPANIED BY A NEEDS-BASED, PRO-ACTIVE AND FISCALLY RESPONSIBLE COMMUNITY INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENTS PLAN
New Westminster (September 8, 2022): The New West Progressives unveiled their housing and homelessness strategy today as part of their upcoming 2022 Action Plan. It includes a series of new and innovative measures to tackle the current housing crisis in the Royal City.
“We are going to hit the ground running with this plan starting the moment we are sworn into office,” says Ken Armstrong, mayoral candidate for the New West Progressives. “We need a council that not only has good ideas on how to build affordable and appropriate housing, but one that also has the management skills and business acumen to actually make it happen.”
NWP’s 5-Point Housing and Homelessness Action Plan released today will speed up approval times, ensure more affordable housing is constructed, provide more housing choices, increase overall supply while ensuring our most vulnerable are appropriately housed.
“Some politicians in our council chamber have had over a decade to improve affordability and housing choice in our city,” says council candidate Daniel Fontaine. “They failed to live up to their commitments and promises four years ago. That why our team has put forward a new, workable housing plan that meets the needs of our local residents as well as future citizens who plan to live and work here.”
Within 100 days of taking office, the NWP will begin implementing its Housing and Homelessness Action Plan. Some of the initiatives include the following:
Reducing Approval Times
· Substantially reduce permitting times by streamlining processes and establishing up to 15 pre-approved designs that will reduce construction costs for homeowners. This will be modelled after similar programs for laneway housing developments.
Building Affordable Housing
· Supporting and fast-tracking the construction of at least 1,500 non-market or lower-end-of-market family-friendly rental unitsby 2028.
Increasing Supply
· Facilitate the development of at least 25% more secondary suites and laneway houses by 2026, utilizing the aforementioned simplified approval process.
Providing More Choices
· Providing more housing options for New West families through the development of a bold action plan that will facilitate the increase in the overall number of ‘missing middle’ i.e. duplex, fourplex and townhouse units approved for development by at least 40% by 2030.
Helping the Unhoused and Those at Risk of Joining Them
· Starting with ensuring New Westminster works with the Province of BC and the Government of Canada to provide adequate funding to support the establishment of temporary and appropriately placed shelter spaces for our identified unhoused residents… but also the required wrap-around services that together will switch us from a “Housing First” model to a “Not Just Housing” model.
“In addition, our team firmly believes we can’t simply build more housing without a clear and well-funded plan to build the new community amenities needed as a direct result of that growth,” says Fontaine, “City Hall has simply failed when it comes to adding new infrastructure like green space, libraries, and community centres. We have over-subscribed community programs and the lowest ratio of green space of any major urban centre in the Greater Vancouver area… and that deficit requires our attention as well.”
NWP mayoral and council candidates continues to share many of their policy ideas aimed to address the concerns and ideas they have heard from New Westminster residents and businesses, leading up to the unveiling of the NWP’s 2022 campaign platform next month. To read the entire housing and homelessness plan, or to learn more about other campaign policy announcements, please visit nwprogressives.ca/platform.