Bradner Community News

ALR Exclusion, "unlikely" - says Mayor

3/21/2018

On February 16th, 2018, the Abbotsford News published an article about what Mayor Henry Braun thinks will happen with the recent ALR exclusion application - submitted by the City itself, despite the huge public outcry in opposition. The application was made to the Agriculture Land Commission (ALC) in late 2017, asking the ALC for nearly 700 acres of farmland in Abbotsford to be removed from the ALR for industrial parks - 331 acres in Bradner and 380 acres in South Mt. Lehman by the airport.

The article, written by Tyler Olsen, says the Mayor isn’t confident in the outcome of the city’s request to have farmland removed from the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) and made available for industrial development. (The article stated in error that the application is for approximately 500 acres to be removed from the ALR - correct total is 699 acres)

On July 17th, 2017, the city held a public hearing which went late into the night - public opposition to the application was the overarching theme. Hundreds turned out to speak against the application.

Despite this, the Abbotsford City council voted to proceed with the application, requesting the removal of 699 acres of farmland both in Bradner and just north of the Abbotsford International Airport.

Read the July 17th, 2017 Public Hearing Minutes

It was said that the exclusion request is "meant to address the city’s rapidly diminishing supply of industrial land". But the majority of the public disagree - the Fraser Valley as the bread basket of Canada, a unique area with the longest growing season and arguably the most fertile land in all of Canada. That the ALR makes up a mere 1% of the land in BC and is in danger. That the traffic will increase on rural farm roads 10 fold. That the industrial park will damage the protected Nathan Creek watershed, amongst many other valid reasons that prove ripping farmland out of the ALR is NOT a good idea.

The article continues by explaining that Mayor Henry Braun is doubtful the ALR panel set to rule on the decision will grant the request based on statements by the current provincial government and minister of agriculture.

“I’m not terribly optimistic given some of the comments that have been made in public,” Braun said. He noted the panel previously turned down a private developer’s application to exclude the Bradner properties, although that decision suggested they may be more accommodating to an application from the municipality.

Braun expects a decision in the coming months. But while the ALC panel is supposed to act independently of the provincial government, he suggested that the government’s comments regarding agriculture land could sway the decision.

“The panel members read the newspaper and listen to the six o’clock news too,” he said. Last August, just two weeks after council had approved the plan to apply to the ALC, Minister of Agriculture Lana Popham told The News that “Removing food-growing lands for industrial purposes does not fit within that mandate.”

While ALC panels act independently, governments also have the ability to overrule decisions. The NDP government has since convened a nine-member committee to “lead the revitalization” of the ALR and ALC. The panel will look at a range of topics, including monster homes, the breaking of the ALR into two farms under the previous government, fish farms and ALR “resilience”.

Despite this glimmer of hope - everyone is encouraged to engage directly with the ALC or NDP government... The developer who has been 'licking his chops' on the Bradner lands for industry has now already purchased the majority of the land within it..