WHEREAS the Agricultural Land Commission ALC is governed by the Agricultural Land Commission Act and is responsible to preserve agricultural land and to encourage local governments, First Nations, the government and its agents to enable and accommodate farm use of agricultural land and uses compatible with agriculture in their plans, bylaws and policies; an objective would appear to be to maintain a permanent farm land reserve and some of the land has been arbitrarily earmarked as ALR Agricultural Land Reserve; AND WHEREAS some of this land deemed not to be suitable to be designated as agricultural land or is of marginal production capability; AND WHEREAS the determination of ALR within the confines of some local governments results in even more marginalization of capability and also results in extreme costs for local government to develop non-contiguous services for local government infrastructure: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that UBCM encourage the provincial government to review the Agricultural Land Commission Act and the Agricultural Land Reserve Regulations with a view to establish a process to recognize that these costs to local governments outweigh the potential benefit to British Columbia of retaining land deemed not to be suitable as reserve and the Agricultural Land Commission be requested to change the regulations pertaining to such lands.
Ministry of Agriculture Encouraging the stability of farm families and the farming industry in British Columbia, protecting valuable farmland and allowing for responsible economic development opportunities are key priorities for government. The Provincial government is considering a review of the ALC and the Agricultural Land Reserve ALR as part of Core Review 2013. The Core Review 2013 process was initiated on July 31, 2013 and is to be completed by December 31, 2014. The ALC has a history of engaging local governments in discussing land use needs in the context of community land use planning exercise. In keeping with its 2012 strategic direction and recent 2013 budget support of government, the ALC is placing more emphasis on engaging with local governments in planning exercises and where appropriate, refining ALR boundaries based on agricultural capability and suitability. The ALC is already engaged in targeted boundary reviews beginning in the Regional District of East Kootenay. Reviews in the North, Interior and Kootenay Regions are expected to be completed by 2016. This work is made possible by an increase in Balanced Budget 2013 for Commission operations of 0.931 million in 201314, 1.542 million in 201415 and 1.417 million in 201516.