Save Our Southlands

Wendy Holm is a professional agrologist who has dedicated her life to farming issues in BC, Canada and around the world. To have her report dismissed in such an arrogant manner by the Century Group goes to show the level of fear they have for experts not on their payroll.  I encourage everyone to read this report in its entirety.  And to Sean Hodgins, who says the report contains "nothing new," I would point out that spending millions trying to force through a mega-development on the Southlands is also nothing new, having been tried and failed multiple times since 1971.  Read the full report here.

There is a new website addressing the Southlands issue called Save The Southlands.  It's a great site with a quick link to send e-mails to council.

And a new forum where issues about Southlands and development in general can be discussed: http://comeshowme.com/v-web/smf/index.php?board=28.0

There is also a Facebook group called Save Our Southlands.

As well there is an online petition asking that the Southlands be placed back in the ALR.

And there is our mailing list, over a hundred strong now, at saveoursouthlands@gmail.com

Things are heating up folks so write letters to council, letters to the editor and show up at the meetings.  

April 4, 2009

The Century Group has decided that the best way to advance their development is through an OCP (Official Community Plan) amendment.  

This is clever in a couple of ways.

Firstly, as can be seen in the application itself (click on image above to read), they do not need to be too specific.  Instead of submitting a concrete plan for a straight up or down vote, they are asking that their general concept be endorsed.  If they meet resistance, they will say that this or that aspect of the plan is open to change, and anyway, it's just an OCP amendment and therefore not binding for anyone.

Then, if they are successful at altering the OCP, they submit the rezoning proposal.  At that time, when people come out against their plan, they say that it has already been approved through the OCP and that the time to address concerns was when the community plan was being altered.

The second thing the OCP amendment does is buy them time. 

For whatever reason, even after all the preparation that has gone on, they are not ready to develop the land.  This may be related to the global financial crisis we are currently undergoing which has shut down many a project.  If they can get the guarantee of an OCP amendment they will be able to secure more favorable financing terms. 

And with the OCP amendment, they can drag the decision making process over many months, making opposition more difficult because there will never be a solid target to oppose.  Instead, we'll have months of committees and statements of principle, lulling us to sleep with the monotonous noise of bureaucracy.

So our job in the coming months will be to stay awake and aware, to say no to the needless destruction of farmland and no to the overpopulation of Tsawwassen.  

The Southlands are located in southeastern Tsawwassen and extend to the international boundary 

They cover 500-plus acres, including hundreds of acres of prime farm land and the last intact forest in Tsawwassen.

The Southlands used to be known as the Spetifore or Triple S Farm, and the history of the site has been eventful.

The Southlands are clearly designated agricultural in the 2007 Official Community Plan.

Many studies have been done on the soil and all confirm the good agricultural quality of the land.

The Southlands also have a rich archaeological history, with many middens and sites of signifigance.

Additionaly, the Southlands are included in the Metro Vancouver Green Zone.

To view the process and applicable forms that the municipality could use to include the Southlands in the ALR , click here.

Click here to sign an online petition requesting inclusion of the Southlands in the ALR.