WHEREAS the Agricultural Land Commission was established to ensure the preservation of agricultural land and to preserve and enable farm businesses throughout the province of British Columbia; however, increasingly, land with agricultural designation in the lower mainland is removed from the Agricultural Land Reserve ALR, while land in the central and northern areas of the province is being added to the ALR to achieve a net balance on the total hectares of land within the ALR; AND WHEREAS there is a definite disparity in the agricultural productivity value between land in the lower mainland and land in the northern and central areas of the province, resulting in an actual overall loss of productive capacity of the agricultural land being protected as such: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that UBCM lobby the provincial government to develop and implement an Agricultural Land Value Index, which will assign a specific agricultural land value to properties in the Agricultural Land Reserve that reflects the actual farming capability of the land rather than just a general ALR designation.
Provincial Agricultural Land Commission The Agricultural Land Commission ALC agrees that the accuracy of the Agricultural Land Reserve ALR boundaries in some regions of the province should be examined to accurately reflect land that is suitable for farm use. This position was echoed by the Commissions in its response to the September 2010 Audit of the Agricultural Land Commission by the Office of the Auditor General of British Columbia. Working with local governments to examine the ALR boundary in the context of regional and local land use planning exercises has been the primary approach taken by the Commission during the past two decades. This approach has been ad hoc and reactive and not what the Commission believes is comprehensive as was the case when it undertook and co-ordinated planned ALR boundary fine-tuning exercises in the 1980s. When the Commission carries out fine-tuning reviews it considers factors such as the actual agricultural land capability and productivity information to evaluate the suitability of land to remain in, or to be added to the ALR. The Commission has noted previously that in specific areas of the province, notably the central, north and southeast, that ALR boundary reviews may be warranted. The rate of exclusion of lands from the ALR throughout the province has steadily declined over the past 25 years and exclusions have largely been based on decisions to applications by land owners. Inclusion of land has been responsive to individual land owner applications as well as applications on arable Crown lands in the north and central regions of the province that were never part of the original ALR designation in the early 1970s. Changes to ALR boundaries in northern regions as compared to southern regions are unrelated and the Commission does not seek to attain a provincial balance between exclusions and inclusions. Each case, whether it is an application or a broader area review, is considered on the individual merits of each situation taking into account the lands capability and suitability. The Chairs report Review of the Agricultural Land Commission - Moving Forward: A Strategic Vision of the Agricultural Land Commission for Future Generations was submitted to the Minister of Agriculture in November 2010. The Province continues to be committed to the ALR and the protection of agricultural land to support farmers and farm families, and on November 14, 2011, government announced several initiatives aimed at improving the structure and sustainability of the ALC. Improvements to the ALC have been made in terms of transitional funding that provides the ALC with resources to transition to a more self-supporting operating model by 2013 and to improve information services and mapping. Legislative changes in place as of November 25, 2011 will discourage repeat applications to exclude agricultural land, enhance the ALCs enforcement capacity and encourage farming by allowing the ALC to focus on proactive land use planning with local governments rather than reacting to applications. Further details may be found at: http:www.newsroom.gov.bc.ca201111province-strengthens-agricultural-land… and http:www.newsroom.gov.bc.ca201111changes-strengthening-agricultural-lan…