Re: "Townhouse proposal needs more work: council," the Now, Oct. 9.

Surrey's city council should work toward accepting the urban intensification proposal in Fleetwood and continuing to accept similar proposals that intensify our improvable, existing urban areas.

The current proposal and location helps build a much more sustainable city than what could possibly become the alternative - the developer chooses to build in a new community, a neighbourhood such as Sunnyside Heights, Grandview Heights or Anniedale. This alternative to the proposed townhouse complex causes problems and is expensive.

It costs the city more to accommodate new communities with new infrastructure, costs more to live in these communities (car-dependency), costs citizens in existing communities (i.e. infrastructure needs in existing communities become neglected due to new communities' needs), and - with both the local and the bigger picture in mind - costs the environment as well.

The council members and residents should be applauded for their hard work building a more sustainable Surrey.

Daryl Dela Cruz, Surrey