A6 TUESDAY, September 17, 2013
www.kamloopsthisweek.com
LOCAL NEWS
Digging in to fight proposed pit
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Westsyde residents worry about too many trucks going too fast By Andrea Klassen STAFF REPORTER andrea@kamloopsthisweek.com
It was meant to be a chance for the proponent of a new gravel pit on Westsyde Road to explain his project and address neighbourhood concerns. Instead, a public meeting at The Dunes golf course on Wednesday, Sept. 11, turned into an impromptu strategy session for residents along the roadway opposed to the project. Bruce Bried, a former Kamloopsian now based in Delta, wants to extract up to 150,000 tonnes of gravel per year from his lot at 7461 Westsyde Rd. Bried said the lot was originally purchased by his father, who planned to develop a gravel pit. When he died, Bried and his brothers decided to take up the project. The more than 50 people who came to the meeting to oppose the project said they are concerned the new pit will dramatically increase truck traffic on Westsyde Road. Linda Barringer said truck traffic from the three pits operating in the area is already a safety concern without the added trucks from a new pit. “Gravel trucks go
past constantly going too fast,” she said. “We know there are trucks on the road, but when it’s going to increase 40 to 70 trucks per day, how are we supposed to live with that?” Bried estimated his pit could generate between 20 and 60 new truck trips a day, depending on the gravel market in Kamloops, but said one of the pits already operating in Westsyde is nearing the end of its lifespan, leaving room in the market for a new pit. As to traffic safety concerns, “the only thing we can do is try to self-police and get community policing involved,” he said. As audience members grilled Bried on road safety, representatives from the Ministry of Energy and Mines, which will make the final decision on the project, pointed out traffic concerns cannot be taken into account by the ministry as part of the decision-making process. They said it is the responsibility of the Ministry of Transportation and the City of Kamloops to ensure Westsyde Road is kept safe, noting only concerns relating to the B.C. Mine’s Act can be taken into account when
the best shot residents have left. “Mines is set. They meet the criteria,” he told KTW. “And what’s the TNRD [ThompsonNicola Regional District] going to do?” Like others at the meeting, Comrie said he is frustrated with the way the project has moved forward. “There has been a lack of consultation at all levels,” he said, arguing deliberations on the proposed pit would have been better publicized and more transparent had it been within city limits. “It’s an element of frustration that folks have,” he said. ALC land use planner Liz Sutton confirmed that the commission will decide whether to reconsider its decision on Bried’s lot in the first week of October. Sutton said the ALC can only consider grounds laid out in the province’s Agricultural Land Commission Act. “The main thing would be evidence that was not available at the time of the original decision,” she said. “Or if all or part of the
reviewing a permit application. That news left many in the crowd feeling frustrated. “We should have [Ministry of] Highways here, we should have had the MLAs here, the city,” Jerry Stutt said. “This is a waste of time.” “This involves more than mines,” agreed Lyndon Bauer. “It should be more than just a couple people sitting at a desk.” However, pit opponents believe they may have found another way to spike the project. Bried said the Agricultural Land Commission is planning to reconsider its decision to let him remove his land from the Agricultural Land Reserve, after several opponents of the gravel pit wrote to complain. David Comrie, who sits on the city’s agriculture commission and lives on Westsyde Road, urged those with concerns about the project to make sure they are being heard by the ALC. Comrie said the ALC, whose decision trumps the ministry’s, is
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original decision was based on evidence that was either in error or was false.” The ALC supported Bried’s gravel pit plan because it believed it would improve the land’s “agricultural capability” in the long run. “The applicant has stated the land is too rocky to plow and the land will be more arable post-extraction,” the commission wrote in its decision.
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