Please vote for ALR farmland defenders in the 2018 election of Richmond Council

Bulletin, Nov 13: The new Richmond Council has approved a number of ALR farmland protection measures, including a house size limit of 400 square metres on ALR land. For diverting residential use away from farmland, that is vastly better than the previous limit of 1000 square metres.

Bulletin, Oct 20: Pro-Farmland candidates Michael Wolfe and Kelly Greene have replaced two pro-Land Speculator councillors. This gives the Pro-Fsarmland philosophy a slight edge on the 2018–22 Richmond Council.

Bulletin, Oct 19: Pro-Farmland candidates say, “Limit ALR house size in Richmond to the BC limit.” That will protect farmland FOR farmers but AGAINST speculators. All FARMERS will remain able to exceed the limit. And the limit allows a huge house: 500 square metres = almost 5,400 square feet). Vote Pro-Farmland: RCA, RITE and Roston, etc. Ignore the confused front-page ad (Richmond News, Oct 18).

Some events bring out informed courage. The Richmond Council meeting of May 14, 2018 stands out for that. In council chambers dominated by ALR land speculators and the like, nine memorable defenders of Richmond soil held firm in battle. They emerged with honour and can yet win the war.

Shortcut: The graphic at top is the executive summary. The rest of this article refers to it. Have a look at it. (And click on it for a larger version, and use the “Previous” arrow, <, to return here.)

The key motion was to reduce the allowed size for new houses on farmland from 1000 m² to 500 m². That was within the Ministry of Agriculture’s guideline for saving ALR farmland.

A YES majority would have stanched our rapid loss of vital farmland. But only three council members voted YES: Mayor Malcolm Brodie and Councillors Carol Day and Harold Steves. (They stand out in red in the “Situation” row of the graphic.)

Sadly, the other six voted No.

Happily, six of us citizens who spoke to council at that meeting—calling for a YES vote on the motion—are now council candidates, along with Malcolm, Carol and Harold. They’re in red (replacing some councillors) in “A solution,” the lower row of the graphic:

• Next to Coun. Carol Day in the lower row, we have Kelly Greene, John Roston and Judie Schneider.
• After Mayor Malcolm Brodie, that’s Niti Sharma.
• After Coun. Harold Steves: Jack Trovato and Michael Wolfe.

Michael, John and Niti have been resolutely effective for conservation for years. Adding the three of them to Richmond’s  council (seemingly driven by developers and speculators) would transform it, very much for the better.

Kelly is so capable she nearly took John Yap’s MLA seat. Judie is an energizer who overcomes whatever with joy. Jack is an assertive organizer. So it would be good to have them on council too.

In the election for Richmond Council—Saturday, October 20, 2018—many other candidates for Richmond Council promise to protect farmland too. The details are in the survey results at Richmond FarmWatch. You may find that some of them are even more ideal for you. In fact, two of them got this blogger’s vote, along with seven people from the lower row of the graphic.

For the next four years, 2018–22, please elect a mayor and eight councillors who will stand up for ecological and agricultural conservation and help Richmond to wear its Garden City badge with respect again.

(Click the graphic for a larger version. Use Previous arrow < to return.)

___

________________________________________________________________
Notes about the graphic, motion, guideline and minutes:

The graphic: The upper row of the graphic actually maps how the council members were seated at the May 14, 2018 meeting.

The motion: The defeated reduced size of 500 square metres equals 5,382 square feet. It applies to new construction of houses on ALR farmland. The limit is intended mainly for non-farmers, since farmers have an existing means to exceed any limit.

The guideline: The stated intent of the Ministry of Agriculture in setting a size guideline for ALR residences is to direct residential uses away from farmland.

The minutes: Access the minutes of the May 14, 2018 Council Meeting, refer to R18/9-11 (2) for the motion and to R18/9-11R18/9-4 (3) for notes about the “delegations,” citizens who addressed the issue.