Dear Editor:
Thank you Summerland mayor and council for your response to my letter.
So you say there would be no net loss of Agricultural Land Reserve lands. Except for the little detail that the land proposed for the swap is of a lower rating and less valuable ALR land. Not a helpful deal for the ALR.
Those wonderful planners’ dream circles look and sound so good — as they did 20 years ago. But they do not work everywhere, as in Summerland.
The thriving grape and wine industry has become as large and viable as it is because the land there was protected and could be used as needed. Without ALR protection there would have been wholesale divisions or orchards, creating a fragmented land base.
Who knows what exciting enterprise is going to appear in the next few years. But we could have the land for the new agricultural pursuit.
So keep cool. Wait until there is need and other alternatives considered. Then approach this idea again.
Sheila White
Summerland
