Abbotsford’s mayor and city manager will seek meetings with the province’s top agriculture officials in the wake of the Agricultural Land Commission’s rejection of the city’s plan to allow industrial uses on 200 hectares of what is now farmland.
The ALC ruled in late April that land in Bradner and north of Abbotsford International Airport should stay in the Agricultural Land Reserve, despite the city’s insistence that it would otherwise run out of land for industry.
Last Monday, council gave Mayor Henry Braun and city manager Peter Sparanese the authority to arrange meetings with provincial agriculture minister Lana Popham, the ALC’s chief executive officer, and the ALC’s new chair.
Popham has previously spoken about the need to maintain and “revitalize” the ALR, and a panel has been appointed to make recommendations to do just that.
The provincial government also recently appointed a new ALC chair to take over for Frank Leonard, who had been appointed by the Liberals. Leonard had authored the decision rejecting Abbotsford’s application.
“We’ve studied this quite intensively,” Coun. Ross Siemens said last Monday, “so to let this fall off the table and not address it, I think [would be] irresponsible.”
Coun. Dave Loewen added: “We need to look to the future to how we will grow and how we will provide for the people who will be moving here and looking for jobs.”
Braun said the meetings will allow him and Sparanese to better understand the minister’s and ALC officials’ views on the matter. He said while he has heard from some residents the city should look to other areas to address the lack of industrial land, no such large areas exist in Abbotsford outside of the Agricultural Land Reserve.
The motion to set up the meetings passed unanimously, although Coun. Patricia Ross – who last year cast the lone vote on council against the request to remove the lands – was absent.
