The
following letter to BC Hydro from the BC Land Reserve Commission (LRC)
is a disappointment. It is testimony to the attitudes with which the
Commission approaches its mandate and responsibility to protect British
Columbia's farmlands.
From almost the first word, the Commission shows carelessness (The
Georgia Basin Crossing?), sycophancy (...thank you for your
excellent presentation...), and general empathy for Hydro (Your
difficulty ... is appreciated.) while showing none at all for the
farms and farmers the LRC are mandated to protect.The case for protecting farmland should not hang on the slickness of presentations. The first and highest purpose of agricultural land is agriculture, not pipelines. The value of this letter to BC Hydro is the weight it carries with the NEB - who are more likely to give credibility to the appointed commission (the same group who carry the legacy of the notorious Six Mile Ranch fiasco, and - for Cowichan Valley residents with a longish memory - the Averill Hills debacle) than they are to the farmers and landowners.  Those
same Cobble Hill farmers and landowners have been virtually unanimous
in stating that they do not want the pipeline on their lands. They
have posted signs on their lands, have signed documents and petitions
objecting to the pipeline, and have made presentations to the LRC.
But they're just a bunch of farmers. Guess they just don't put together much of
a presentation.August 2, 2000 letter from BC Land Reserve Commission to BC Hydro August 2, 2000Reply to the attention of Roger Cheetham Ken Farquharson British Columbia Hydro & Power Authority 333 Dunsmuir Street, 13th Floor Vancouver, BC V6B 5R2 Dear Sir: Re: Georgia Basin Crossing Project Our Ref: J-33168 The Commission would like to thank you for your excellent presentation on the 27th July 00. Your difficulty in finding a route that is acceptable from the point of view of impacts on urban development (residential, institutional, commercial etc) and which also does not impact on agriculture and forestry is appreciated. Ideally the Commission would for obvious reasons have preferred a route that avoided the reserves altogether. The Commission, however, accepts that no such option exists that also avoids unacceptable impacts on other land uses. The Commission is therefore prepared to go along with the selected alignment and appreciates the work that you have undertaken to inform it about the issues that have been identified in previous meetings, subject to the comments below. There are two sections of the proposed alignment that give rise to particular concern. The one is in the Thain Road area. The Commission has given careful consideration to both options proposed in this area and has been unable to come to a conclusion as to which has the lessor impact and is therefore to be preferred. Insofar as the Truswell option is concerned the Commission is concerned about the impact of the route on the erection of farm buildings, access etc and therefore would like the route to be located as close as possible to Thain Road. Insofar as the FLR route is concerned the Commission would like you to explore options that result in no net loss in productivity, for example, by investment in silviculture elsewhere. The other section is that affecting the Granfield Estate. We understand your reluctance to follow Aros Road but believe that there may be possibilities of adjusting the alignment south and west of Granfield Place so as to more closely follow property boundaries. By so doing potential negative impacts on the location of farm buildings and access will be reduced. As was touched on briefly at the meeting, the Commission is likely to impose requirements relating to the construction of the pipeline to ensure no loss of productivity when the formal application is made following NEB approval. These conditions will include measures that ensure that the soil horizons are replaced properly and the depth of the pipeline is sufficient not to interfere with existing and new tile drainage and tillage operations. Yours truly, LAND RESERVE COMMISSION per: K. B. Miller , Chief Executive Officer cc: Marcia Farquhar, EAO Wayne Haddow, Regional Agrologist, Ministry of Agriculture and Food, Duncan Niels Holbek, Land Officer RC/eg I/33168m6 |