Dear Editor,

Shockingly, we have lost Willoughby to development in just two years.

Where are the quiet green-treed public parks, jogging trails, and picnic areas with swings and playgrounds for our children?

Where are the large, wooded public parks in the Willoughby area, similar to Surrey's Bear Creek Park or Tynehead Regional Park?

All the thoroughfares in Willoughby, such as 200th and 208th Streets, are now jam packed with cars all day long. Dense condo and house building is racing up and down 208th and 200 Street. It is packed with construction of thousands of new homes, shopping malls, and lots of back top, creating more garbage and air pollution.

Until the current mayor and council came into power, rural Langley still had quite a bit of large, treed lots along 200 and 208 Streets. Unfortunately, we are losing them at a high-speed.

I understand 216th Street is now under the developer's scrutiny, plus Brookswood.

Green spaces are needed for people to enjoy nature, for birds, and small animals. Recent medical studies have shown that wandering down a nature trail outside into the woods is beneficial and healing to humans.

Also, we need trees to filter out the impurities in the air, protecting our respiratory organs.

The current Township mayor and council are not protecting any of our large treed areas for public parks for people to enjoy. They seem to be only catering to the developers and dollars.

We were even told we have to pay for a park that is already ours, given to the people - McLellan Park.

They will certainly not get my vote.

Ras Gosse, Langley