Metro Vancouver and Langley Township are headed back to court as the Regional District appeals a BC Supreme Court ruling handing the responsibility for land use planning for a proposed development to city council.

Metro chair Greg Moore says the judgement could have a major impact.

“We disagree with the judgement because we think it renders the Regional Growth Strategy fairly powerless in ensuring that we are growing together as a region and not as individual municipalities and I think that is what our residents appreciate about this region is that we are ensuring that we are growing together and not in all of these silos.”

Moore says if the ruling wasleft unchallenged it wouldn’t just affect Metro Vancouver.

“We have some challenges with the judges comments regarding the interpretation of the role of a Regional District. The judge also specifically talked about the significance of rezoning and its impacts on the region and we think there needs to be some clarity around that. It has really large impacts for Metro Vancouver but actually all other Regional Districts that have Regional Growth Strategies.”

Moore says it is essentially a dispute over how each level of government interprets a part of the planning and zoning process.

He says while the appeal works through the court Metro is also entering into non-binding arbitration with Langley Township on the Regional Growth Strategy.

The judge ruled it was Langley Township who had the final say in a proposed development around Trinity Western university not the Regional District