NVC
pub
plan
gets
input

“AND THE survey says?”
The majority of inhabi-
tants within a half-mile
radius of a proposed pub
site at 107) West
Esplanade are aguinst it.

NORTH VANCOUVER
CITY COUNCIL
By Robert Galster

A final tally of the
responses indicates that those
in favor of converting the
Great Greek restaurant into a
pub are outnumbered by a
margin of 58% to 42%.

The survey results were
brought before council
Monday. An attached recom-
mendation urged councillors
to reject the application. based
on the findings. ,

However. a letter to coun-
cil written by an intermediary.
Nick Vavaris, owner of the
Great Greek restaurant, called
into question not only the
final results of the survey, but
also its process.

He said the 56% return
rate of the survey was too
high to be believable and
cited examples of recent sur-
veys where the return rate was
less than 1%. He also noted
examples of people not
receiving the survey at all.

“Task, could it be that the —

survey was poorly distributed
or that someone else got their
hands on the blanks? Were
adequate controls in place to
assure that people voted once
and only once and that every-
one entitled to answer the
questionnaire was able to do
so?,” said Vavaris who also
paid $7,000 for the survey to
be carried out.

In response to council's
questions regarding the pro-
priety of the survey's proce-
dure, city planner Richard
White said it was curried out
under the same system used
for other votes.

But Coun. Bill Bell also
expressed his concern over
the manner in which the sur-
vey was carried out. As an
example, he cited a case of a
local resident holding three
ballots and claiming that he
will be sending in all three to
be cast as “no” votes.

“ft want to know what went
on with that questionnaire,
how one place got three bal-
lots?”

The process of surveying
the area surrounding the pro-
posed pub site has been under
question from the applica-
tion's outset.

On Oct. 3, council was
informed of an interest
group's attempts to influence

See Pub page &

Second World
War PoW recalls

FOR CLOSE to 40 years, Arthur Holmes
was close-mouthed about his experience
as a British prisoner of war in Singapore.

By Kate Zimmerman
News Reporter

“Most soldiers. they don’t talk about it,” said
Holmes, 76, a West Vancouver resident since the
mid- 1970s, “They have te be drawa out”

Holmes entered the war with Britain's Royal
Engineers and transferred to the Madras Sappers.
“We were a fictd company. with fighting
troops.” he said. In April of 194 he was com-
missioned and, when asked where he wanted to
go. suggested India. He wound up as a second
lieutenant, “about the lowest rank you can get”

Building bridges in India and trekking
through the Khyber Pass were easy compared
with what was coming. Holmes was part of the
formation sent to Singapore on Dec. 8. 1941,
after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.

The men arrived on Jan, 2. 1942. and began
making their way up toward Malaysia as the
Japanese were marching down. The Japanese
had sunk two battleships and had control over
the seas and the air.

Holmes* role was to blow up bridges. He
managed to destroy two before the Japanese
came through his company’s position at night
and completely cut off the 13th Field Company
Madras LE. Holmes eventually found himself on
his own, making his way through the rainy,
swampy jungle for (wo days until he ran into a
Japanese ambush. He still remembers stupidiy
asking a Japanese soldier in English what tuiey
were going to do with him, and his surprise
when the man answered perfectly, in kind.
“We're going to take you back to our headquar-
ters,”

Holmes was taken to Singapore and marched
out to the British base camp at Changi. Though
the British, Indian and Australian soldiers were
able to leave the camp to perform light tasks,
there were few escapes. Those who tried to flee
were executed: the understanding was that for
every PoW who ran away, 10 of his pals would
be killed.

Holmes has books — one by cartoonist
Ronald Searle, who was interned at the same
camp — which depict the physical scars some of
his fellow PoWs incurred. Tropical ulcers ate
away at their limbs. Malnutrition, cholera and
malaria wasted their bodies. Their diet of vita-
min-free polished rice and fish caused constipa-

NEWS photo Pau! McGrath

SECOND WORLD War veteran Arthur Holmes reminisces about the almost-four years
he spent as a PoW in Singapore, helping to ouild the Burma to Siam railway.

tion, dysentery and beribert. Over the months
food supplies dwindled.

The PoWs’ lives took a turn for the worse
when the Japanese emperor decided they should
build a railway from Bangkok to Ye. Burma, a
415-ktlometre route over rocky terrain which
Holmes compares to the old mountain road
stretching from West Vancouver to Whistler.
Dutch PoWs were brought in from Java to assist
the other prisoners in clearing and blasting a path
for the track.

The prisoners were told they were going to a

holiday camp but it quickly dawned on them that
this was unlikely when they boarded the steel
railway cars that would take them to Bangkok.
The trip took four days. When the sun was up.
the heat in the cars was stifling: by night, the sol-
diers froze.

Once they arrived at their destination, their
situation deteriorated further. “We were all
ragged. We lived in these huts. [t rained con-
stantly.”

The men were previded with pieces of sice)
and sledgehammers and were expected to drill

holes into the rock so the holes could be packed
with explosives. The Japanese would demand
working parties of 200 and would only be able to
round up 150 able-bodied soldiers for each one,
so they'd fill the ranks with prisoners who were
barely able to stand. Those who didn’t pull their
weight were beaten.

“Quite a few men were beaten to death.”

There were (wo groups involved in the con-
struction of the railways: F force and H force. Jn

See Veteran page 5

Site considered for rec centre

From page 1
Mayor Mark Sager said.

BC Rail’s BCR Properties originally wanted more than $10 million for
the land when it first moved to subdivide the casement into about 40 lots.

With its Nov. 1 purchase, West Vancouver will own about 22 acres of
the easement, much of which it received as a gift from BC Rail. The case-
meat is located between Eagleridge Drive and the Horseshoe Bay high-
way overpass.

Although the anticipated profit was not realized, BC Properties invest-
ments manager Peter Martin is pleased that all of Seaview Walk, which is
flat because of the rock removal conducted for the old rail line, was saved.

“You couldn't create that walk again... the municpalility could not
afford to do it.” he said.

The recent decision to purchase the final 2.9 acres (13 lots) was made
at an in-camera meeting just two days prior to the Nov. 3 closing date on
council's option to purchase.

The municipality will use money [rom district reserves and develop-
ment cost charges to buy the lots, which have been at the centre of ongo-
ing debate in the district.

Local residents were aghast when BCR Properties announced plans to
develop the easement about 18 months ago.

Much of the easement had been leased by the municipality for public

use, including a playing field and the Seaview Watk.

A few months ago, West Vancouver reached a compromise agreement
with BCR Properties that saved much of the Seaview Walk and preserved
a small flat area for the possible use of a recreation centre.

Since then, the municipality has been flooded with letters from people
advising council that buying the entire easement was a “once in a life-
time™ opportunity.

The (3 new lots to be purchased include eight lots south of the possible
recreation site that will help preserve the integrity of the Seaview Walk.

The five lots to the north will augment the previously purchased 3.8-
acre site across from Gleneagles Golf Course. The site is being considered
for the construction of the long demanded western recreation centre.

When the municipality has finalized its plans for the Seaview
Walk/Eagleridge area, some of the land acquired may be sold for residen-
tial development.

Sager said the B.C, Ferry Corp. has also shown interest in using or pur-
chasing some of the land for parking.

“Now (that the municipality is buying the land) we're in the driver's
seat.” Sager said.

BC Rail still plans to develop the remaining five lots it owns in the
area — three on Cranley Drive and two on Marine Drive — for sale in
1995,