Price Tags has been writing about the carving off of farmland to accommodate other uses seen as more immediate in Metro Vancouver.
Last Friday the Agricultural Land Commission that oversees the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) nixed the City of Abbotsford’s “Abbotsfwd” request for 200 hectares of farmland to go into “future industrial growth”. There was also a request in Langley Township to allow other uses on two blocks of farm land in Bradner. The Commission nixed that too.
In their decision as reported in the AbbyNews “the ALC says the lack of available industrial land in the region isn’t sufficient reason to allow non-farm uses on the two blocks of land. One of the blocks was located in Bradner, just north of Highway 1 adjacent to Langley Township; the other was situated just north of Abbotsford International Airport… Although the Applicant submits that there is a “dwindling supply of industrial land in Metro Vancouver and [that] major industrial parks in the Lower Mainland [are] nearing capacity”, it is not the role of the Commission to solve this supply issue.”
The Agricultural Land Commission observed that Abbotsford had already, by agreement, carved 180 hectares of ALR land for industrial use, and had only used 50 hectares of that land to date. The Commission also noted that even though Abbotsford said that jobs would be created through industrial use of farmland, jobs could also be created on agricultural lands.
You can take a look at the Agricultural Land Commission website and decisions here.
Image: The Bradner Barker
It is good to see the Agricultural Land Commission doing what they are supposed to be doing, instead of allowing the ALR to suffer from numerable cuts.
deleted as per editorial policy. Please read policy.
It really depends on quality of farmland as not all land in ALC is of equal agricultural value.
The ALR contains the best food-producing land. It does not encompass gravel pits or existing development. Abbotsford has had 50 years to work out a land use plan for the future.