Editor: I am writing about the Langley Township council decision on Tuscan Farm.
Supporting the development of a subdivision on farmland, against the unanimous recommendation of the AAC (Agricultural Advisory Committee) makes me think council members don’t realize that people can live anywhere. Nor do they understand that farmland is needed to grow food to sustain them.
According to The Times edition of May 9, Mayor Jack Froese and Councillors Grant Ward, Bob Long, Steve Ferguson, Bev Dornan and Charlie Fox were convinced by the developer’s decision to restore previously unusable farmland.
Those in support argued the project actually increased the amount of farmland in Langley, because the developer restored the northern 48 acres to make them suitable for agriculture.
That farm, the Tuscan Farm, has 80 acres of farmland. This development will reduce it to 48 acres. Despite what the mayor and councillors say, this is not an increase in farmland. It is a loss of 32 acres, no matter how you slice it.
However, now that the northern 48 acres have been restored and made suitable for farming, that makes 80 acres of land suitable for agriculture. It is not a place for development.
To the mayor and all councillors, I know the choices you must make are difficult, given the pressures exerted by developers. Stop the pain and the hard decisions: Say no to any development on any land within the ALR.
That would be doing the right thing — just say no.
Gary Davis,
Fort Langley
