This blog discusses Channel Consulting’s work on the 140-acre Xchange Business Park by Hungerford Properties and QuadReal in Abbotsford BC.
Xchange is the largest greenfield land development in the Lower Mainland of the past decade. Land use approvals and government relations for this project are extremely complex. The executives overseeing the project relied on me to work with all of the government organizations and engage input from subject matter consultants on a daily basis for over four years.
My role was:
– ongoing review of land use and environmental regulations and investigating options to move the project forward considering City and provincial policy frameworks.
– government relations with staff and elected officials at the City, Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure, Agricultural Land Commission, Ministry of Jobs, Trade and Technology, FLNRORD, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, First Nations groups, and adjacent landowners.
– facilitating meetings, planning subject matter expert presentations, and preparing quality submissions to City and other government staff to ensure stakeholders alignment in advancing the project.
The client was committed that existing City, Provincial and Federal environmental policy would be met or exceeded. A QEP worked on the science. Best-in-class environmental studies were done. Plans to enhance and protect the environment were developed.
I assembled the puzzle of land use approvals through government relations.
“These projects can get toxic, and Tegan did a great job making sure regulatory authorities, project owners, and technical team members approached the project as a collaborative team”, City staff.
As a third-party consultant, I was able to hear and articulate competing perspectives of different regulators and the client. Having all the issues on the table enabled me to facilitate solutions that would streamline land use approvals by different organizations (e.g., City, FLNRORD, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, as well as input from First Nations).