In an open letter to the Mayor and Council of the Township of Langley, chapter activist Peter Thomson writes, “The Surrey, Langley and White Rock Chapter of the Council of Canadians wishes to register its support in principle for the Metro Vancouver Regional Growth Strategy. We are encouraged by: the inclusion of firm urban containment boundaries and with the general preservation of agricultural land, by the designation of and preservation of industrial lands and by the inclusion of regional transit corridors. These combined have the potential in our view to move our region toward a sustainable future.”
But Thomson notes, “We are concerned about two areas where both local and regional plans are in conflict with the ALR (Agricultural Land Reserve) and are therefore of dubious legality. These are the Aldergrove lands in the Township of Langley and the Garden City lands in the City of Richmond. In these two cases the Regional Growth Strategy appears to designate ALR land for other development. There is a danger that a future Agricultural Land Commission, one more confused about its mandate perhaps, to succumb to pressure and remove those lands from the ALR. Designating those lands for other than agricultural uses clearly encourages non-agricultural incursions into ALR lands. We urge this council to instruct its Metro Vancouver Director(s) to support the Regional Growth Strategy and to resolve the potential legal conflict with the Agricultural Land Reserve.”
This letter can be read at http://www.langleyadvance.com/Metro+Vancouver+Growth+strategy+supported/4444200/story.html#ixzz1GlJFz0sk.
