Kelowna residents have one more week to provide input about agriculture in Kelowna through the online survey that the city has set up for the its Agriculture Plan update.
“We’ve had a really great response from the community with more than 400 surveys completed so far,” said Tracy Guidi, sustainability coordinator with the City of Kelowna.
“Agriculture is such an integrated part of the culture of our city, whether you are a farmer or not, so we hope residents take this opportunity to tell us what it is they value, from the viewscapes or access to local food, and what they think the challenges affecting farming are, be it cost or development pressure.”
City hall says an updated agriculture plan is important to the city to ensure it has clear polices in place to promote and protect agriculture while preserving the character of Kelowna.
The updated plan will be developed with input from farmers and consumers and public engagement will provide what the city says will be a valuable opportunity for residents to discuss the future of agriculture and food in the community.
The online survey is available until June 30 at kelowna.ca/planningprojects.
The Agriculture Plan update will take about 15 months to complete and is aimed at modernizing the city’s original 1998 agricultural plan to align with the Official Community Plan and reflect recent changes to the province’s Agricultural Land Commission Act.
More than 40 per cent of the land in the city is currently in the Agricultural Land Reserve.
This update project is being funded in part by the Real Estate Foundation of B.C. and by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, as well as the B.C. Ministry of Agriculture through programs delivered by the Investment Agriculture Foundation of B.C.
For more project information, go to kelowna.ca/planningprojects.
