Surrey council in a unanimous vote Monday supported moving 220 acres of 鈥渃urrently farmed鈥� land in South Surrey into the Agricultural Land Reserve with one councillor, Linda Annis, saying it would be an 鈥渁bsolute crime鈥� not to.

As for the bigger picture, the Agricultural Land Commission desires to move 304 acres of federally owned land there into the provincial ALR, with the 220 acres of it active farmland. Council also wants the balance of the 304 acres moved into the ALR, and kept intact.

Coun. Mike Bose, a fourth-generation Surrey farmer and former agricultural land commissioner, said a vote against this would be 鈥渁 vote against food security in Western Canada.鈥�

Bose said 85 per cent of all land removed from the ALR is removed by government for infrastructure, and 鈥渁lmost all is done without any compensation or mitigation.

鈥淲e鈥檝e had a massive loss of productive agricultural land. This land is unique, it cannot be replaced anywhere in Canada and, I would argue, in North America. The only place you have land equal to this is in California, but we all know that California struggles with water.鈥�

The land in question provides up to 75 per cent of the early vegetable market in Canada, Bose noted. 鈥淚t produces enough food to feed all of Metro Vancouver for two weeks, more likely a month. This can鈥檛 be replaced.

鈥淭his land must be protected for our food security and the food security of our grandchildren in the future.鈥�

The farmland, within the North Campbell Heights Local Area Plan, is bounded by 192 Street and 36 Avenue and leased to Heppell Farm, which has been producing potatoes, carrots, squash and cabbages for more than half a century.

Annis echoed Bose鈥檚 comments. 鈥淭hese 200 acres of very fertile agricultural land are amongst the most fertile in Western Canada, or Canada for that matter. They produce our very, very first root vegetables that we find in our grocery stores every spring, all throughout Canada. It鈥檚 the first field to come off with root vegetables.鈥�

She noted 70,000 people have signed a petition in support of keeping this land. 鈥淚t鈥檚 very, very valuable agricultural land, something that we can鈥檛 replace.鈥�

Coun. Doug Elford noted that while the decision is ultimately not in Surrey council鈥檚 hands, 鈥渨e can by speaking in favour of it certainly send a strong message out there as a council.鈥�

Mayor Brenda Locke noted there is a 鈥渟ignificant鈥� portion of the land, 80 acres or so, that is treed on the north side that is included in the 304 acres.

鈥淢y concern is that the Right to Farm Act does not require anyone to come forward to ask about removal of those trees so in effect if we put that all in 鈥� and correct me if I鈥檝e got this wrong 鈥� if we put this entirely into the ALR and that is all agricultural land, that entire area including the 80 acres could all be turned into farmland and cut down without application,鈥� she said.

Bose remarked that there are many avenues Surrey can pursue to protect the treed area. 鈥淚f the land is protected for farming use, there are avenues to protect that natural area.鈥� He noted the northern portion is 鈥渧ery steep land and wouldn鈥檛 be farm-able anyway.鈥�

According to a that came before council Monday, Surrey has 22,919 acres in the ALR, established by the province in 1973, and if the 304 acres are added in, this will increase Surrey鈥檚 total by 1.3 per cent. The report notes that Surrey鈥檚 farms support more than 3,300 jobs and produce over $167 million in sales.

On the flip side, the report indicates removing these lands from the Campbell Heights Land Use Plan will result in the potential shortfall of $53 million in Campbell Heights development cost charges, 鈥渞esulting in inadequate funds to complete infrastructure upgrades.

鈥淚f these properties become a part of the ALR versus if these properties were to be zoned as Business Park resulting in a Class 6 (Business & Other) classification assigned by British Columbia Assessment, the potential municipal tax revenue loss is $4.0M based on 2022 land assessment,鈥� the report states.

Locke told the Now-Leader on Tuesday the treed area is also critically important, being a 鈥渟ignificant buffer between the farmland and industry and so we need to maintain that treed area as well.鈥�

tom.zytaruk@surreynowleader.com
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