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| TThursday, h November 22, 2012 | Thursday, November 22, 2012
Snow White, Santa Snow White, Santa to visit Aldergrove! to visit Aldergrove! PAGE 4 PAGE 2
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Page 4: Community pitches pitchesin inafter afterhome homefire fire
Residents question pool plans
Celebrating B.C.’s History
By KURT LANGMANN Aldergrove Star
HARRY HUNT PHOTO
Against a life-sized mural backdrop of the historic scene 154 years ago in Fort Langley, the proclamation that established British Columbia as a Crown colony was read to guests at the Douglas Day ceremony. Story, more photos, inside this issue.
Public speaks out on industrial proposal By VIKKI HOPES Aldergrove Star
A proposed industrial development in the Bradner area is either a boon to the local economy or a blight on the idyllic rural lifestyle, according to those who spoke at a public consultation meeting on Monday night. The public was invited to provide input to Abbotsford city council on a plan to remove 22 properties, totalling about 225 acres, from the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALRD) to build the “West Abbotsford Business Park.” The properties are bordered by Highway 1 to the south, Lefeuvre Road to the east, 56 Avenue/Harris Road to the north, and Gloucester Industrial Estates to the west.
Preceding the public comments, developer Ron Emerson of the Emerson Real Estate Group said the project would result in 5,000 permanent full-time jobs and provide $11 million in property taxes to the city each year. He said an “acute shortage” of industrial land in the Lower Mainland and the site’s proximity to a railway, freeway and border make it an appealing development opportunity. However, some local residents opposed more development in an area that already sees busy truck and railway track linked to the Gloucester site. “This is not just another source of cash for our city; this is our home … We want to continue to be known as the daffodil capital of Canada, not the warehouse cap-
ital,” said Bradner resident Lynda Richard. Others were critical of the notion that the area’s poor soil quality makes it unsuitable for farming and, therefore, it would not be a loss to exclude it from the ALR. Lynn Perrin said she farmed land in the area for 17 years, producing vegetables and raising beef, poultry and pork. “I fed at least 20 families from my fiveacre farm,” she said. Another speaker said greenhouses and mushroom farms are ideal for the area, because they can be built on top of gravel. But others attested to the difficulties in farming the land. One man, who was in support of the industrial development, said he had been a farmer for 35 years and has never had any success in that area. SEE: Page 3
An estimated 175 to 200 people turned up for the Town Hall meeting with Langley School Board chair Wendy Johnson, Township mayor Jack Froese and MP Mark Warawa on Saturday. While many were there to ask general questions of the politicians the main focus that afternoon at the Aldergrove Kinsmen Community Centre was definitely on the matter of the proposed plans for the Aldergrove recreation centre. An open house on the recreation centre coincided with the town hall meeting and contributed to its turnout. A Township spokesperson said that for the pool open house on Nov. 17 there were 210 people who signed in and 192 surveys were completed. There were also 36 people signed up on PlaceSpeak, with an additional 21 completed surveys on-line so far. This on-line input is ongoing and the public can register their opinions at www.placespeak.com/aldergrovecommunitycentre until Nov. 30. There will be another Aldergrove Recreation Centre Open House on Tuesday, Nov. 27, 7 to 9 p.m., in the Aldergrove Community School Library, 26850 – 29 Avenue. The town hall meeting was moderated by Langley Times editor Frank Bucholtz, who grouped the recreation centre questions together for Froese to answer during the last half of the meeting, so that Johnson and Warawa were able to speak on the other questions. Those questions ran the gamut from federal environmental policies to the issues of schools planning for the western growth area of Willoughby. In response to a questioner who was “not happy with Stephen Harper’s ideas on the environment” Warawa replied that “if the climate is really warming (Harper said” we have to get all the major players together on a new agreement beyond Kyoto.” This agreement was hammered out in Copenhagen and has broadened global participation from 20 per cent to 85 per cent, Warawa said. As to whether there would ever be a bypass to take traffic around Aldergrove, Froese replied “not in my lifetime,” citing the constraints imposed by the National Defence lands on the north and the Agricultural Land Reserve on the south. On the matter of special education services, Johnson said that a recent Supreme Court ruling in North Vancouver case “will impact the way we meet special needs” and governments won’t know “until we look at the implications.” She added that in the interim the provincial government has allocated special needs funding, including $1.8 million to Langley school district. SEE: Page 3
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