Signs from the Family Day Rally against the land swap in Summerland.
Image Credit: Save Summerland's Agricultural Land
April 23, 2014 - 10:51 AM
SUMMERLAND — A public hearing will be held tonight for the Save Summerland’s Agricultural Land campaign, a movement that started last month after Summerland city councillors announced an amendment to the official community plan.
A new draft of the plan is currently being written, and includes the removal of 215 acres of agricultural land so the city can build a new residential area.
The land campaign, led and made up of concerned Summerland residents who oppose the land removal. They are “in favour of a fact-based, improved dialogue within the community and believe that it is essential for a future that represents all of our shared interests,” members said in a letter posted on their website.
They argue that taking away this land would hurt the town’s agricultural economy, not just for farmers but for people who work on the farms, and the business that sell products, among others.
Council has offered a “swap in” solution that will trade the “prime” agricultural land with land that hasn’t been considered part of the Agricultural Land Reserve since 2005. This land, the residents say, is not ideal for farming and would not be beneficial to farming.
The land was removed from the reserve list so a golf course could be built on that territory.
Tonight’s public hearing will be held in the gymnasium at Summerland Secondary School at 7 p.m.
Video made by Allan Crossley, a supporter of keeping the land reserve.
To contact the reporter for this story, email Meaghan Archer at marcher@infotelnews.ca or call 250-488-3065. To contact the editor, email mjones@infotelnews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
News from © iNFOnews, 2014