To the Editor,
Re: Lantzville calls in lawyers over urban farming issue, June 21.
As a neighbour who lives down the road from Compassion Farm, I have watched the drama of the urban agriculture discussion within Lantzville with deep sadness.
That we are at the point of legally prosecuting the people who grow the food my children eat because they are growing that food is incredibly disturbing.
When the issue first came up as a bylaw infraction (after 10 years of growing food on this property), as a community we stood up and said we did not support the bylaw as it exists.
Over the past several months we have come together and talked about valuing local food, a local economy and sustainability and we called for an updated bylaw to reflect the current needs and desires of our village.
Lantzville council said it agreed and set to creating a bylaw that would deal with the issue of urban agriculture.
But in in the meantime, it plans to use our tax dollars to uphold a bylaw that we all agree is out of date and are working together to change?
What can possibly be the point of this?
Bylaws are created solely to meet the needs of citizens and resolve issues. This issue cannot possibly be resolved until we have agreed on what our current needs are.
Tabitha Tucker
Lantzville
