City of Powell River councillor Maggie Hathaway has expressed frustration with council for not doing more to solve the problem of affordable housing availability in Powell River after the province announced more than $300 million in funding this winter.
Councillors discussed the rate of progress regarding affordable housing at its committee of the whole meeting, Tuesday, May 31.
“I have to express how profoundly disappointed I am that we have nothing ready to move on,” said Hathaway.
She said council is almost at the halfway point of their election terms without any significant movement being made on the housing portfolio, an issue highlighted by the public as an ongoing concern.
Instead of establishing a social-planning committee last year, council decided to shelve the terms of reference it had created.
“It was a decision of council to wait on the Tapping the Groundswell conference report,” said Mac Fraser.
Results and recommendations from the social-planning conference, held in April and managed by Powell River Diversity Initiative, are expected later this month.
In February, BC premier Christy Clark announced the provincial government would be providing $355 million to fund 2,000 affordable housing units in the province. The funding would be distributed over a period of five years, starting with $50 million for 2016. The deadline for applications is June 15.
“There’s this huge amount of money that’s come out and we have nothing ready to apply for,” said Hathaway. “Quite frankly, we’ve done nothing and I’m really disappointed. This is a huge opportunity missed.”
BC Housing requested proposals from local governments and non-profits for shovel-ready projects.
Councillor CaroleAnn Leishman told the committee that while local governments are able to qualify for the funding, council does not have a strategy to build affordable housing, but said she is aware of at least one Powell River project that has applied.
“It’s in the hands of at least one non-profit,” said Leishman. “The role of local governments in a situation like this is to partner with non-profits and potentially provide the land.”
Hathaway said council has not taken a strong enough leadership role on advancing affordable housing in the city.
“I’d just like to see us move forward with a committee of council, not that we necessarily need to go out there and build something, but at least we can pull together the groups that can and get projects on track by providing the leadership,” said Hathaway. “That’s our job.”
