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[Saanich] Vandekerkhove hay/buffalo farm (1947 Burnside Road)


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#41 Coreyburger

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Posted 08 November 2015 - 01:51 PM

Half of council had no problem with supporting the idea of a sewage treatment plant. That shoukd be reason enough to believe that future development is possible.

 

A community facility is a very different beast than general residential development outside the UCB: http://www.saanich.c...BoundaryMap.pdf


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#42 Mike K.

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Posted 08 November 2015 - 02:08 PM

I'll say. It's a major industrial operation, for sure.

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#43 Coreyburger

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Posted 08 November 2015 - 02:30 PM

I'll say. It's a major industrial operation, for sure.

 

Part of the reason why some of council opposed sending it forward.



#44 LJ

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Posted 08 November 2015 - 06:59 PM

Mike K., on 08 Nov 2015 - 3:08 PM, said:

I'll say. It's a major industrial operation, for sure.

Maybe not, if they are providing fertilizer for the hay crop.


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#45 spanky123

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Posted 08 November 2015 - 07:44 PM

Maybe not, if they are providing fertilizer for the hay crop.

 

Because I have nothing better to do I looked up the requirements for raising bison. The standard is one cow-calf pair per 5 to 10 acres of grazing area and 6 foot high heavy duty fencing. So if V leveled his entire plot he could raise 4-8 bison and it would cost him about $20 a foot for fencing along the entire perimeter.

 

Probably a good reason why nobody raises bison here.



#46 Benezet

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Posted 08 November 2015 - 08:05 PM

Because I have nothing better to do I looked up the requirements for raising bison. The standard is one cow-calf pair per 5 to 10 acres of grazing....

That seems right, but for non-irrigated rangeland. Cattle feedlots provide as little as maybe 10 square metres per head (though I imagine bison wouldn't tolerate that). I've seen buffalo paddocks with maybe 200 head in 20 acres – that's very, very rough guess.

[Edit – to be clear, feed is brought in to such paddocks and feedlots.]

Edited by Benezet, 08 November 2015 - 08:21 PM.


#47 Bingo

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Posted 08 November 2015 - 08:49 PM

 

Probably a good reason why nobody raises bison here.

 

And we don't have a head smashed in bison jump.



#48 phx

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Posted 08 November 2015 - 09:27 PM

Saanich has some pretty strong opinions about removing land (observe the whole Alberg bit)

Saanich has strong opinions about getting a cut.  The ALR can be a useful tool to that end.



#49 Simon7

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Posted 12 November 2015 - 10:21 AM

I am outraged by this development. I am suspicious of V's motives.

Everything I am reading about the Atwell mayoral regime and his attempts to support Vs projects after getting a large donation from him in the campaign, also strongly suggests this guy needs to go ASAP. He appears to essentially be a plant for developers to have free action in Saanich. Just as we get rid of Harper we have a new local version IMO.

As for the specifics of the buffalo herd I am also wondering if they will be free range or in a feed lot. If the latter there could be a lot of buffalo excrement etc and the air quality near the hospital is about to drop significantly. I believe the area being used will come to within 150 metres of the hospital.

What is also appalling is that as Saanich residents we have to sit and watch Mr V and his minions do this. But he is apparently within his rights given the current rules in Saanich. I am suspicious that it may be simply a way to show he can do whatever he wants with his land and perhaps a reaction to the failure of the CRD idea.

Weirdly I found the Vs listed as supporters of the Forest Action Group opposing development at Bear Mountain that would take out forest areas. Maybe they can be convinced to be true to these values with their own land?

Here is the list if anyone wants to contact him and ask.

http://forestaction....membership list

 

 

 



#50 nagel

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Posted 12 November 2015 - 11:54 AM

^ I wouldn't be surprised if this had been organized as a cheap win for the mayor at the expense of some of the other council members.

 

Regardless, it is a shame the new mayor is still not working well with his fellow council members.  I gave him the benefit of the doubt for most of this year but now my opinion has completely shifted.


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#51 VicHockeyFan

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Posted 14 November 2015 - 10:18 AM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kM-Y2SxvnGo

 

Now we're talking.


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#52 spanky123

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Posted 14 November 2015 - 10:29 AM

I am outraged by this development. I am suspicious of V's motives.

Everything I am reading about the Atwell mayoral regime and his attempts to support Vs projects after getting a large donation from him in the campaign, also strongly suggests this guy needs to go ASAP. He appears to essentially be a plant for developers to have free action in Saanich. Just as we get rid of Harper we have a new local version IMO.

As for the specifics of the buffalo herd I am also wondering if they will be free range or in a feed lot. If the latter there could be a lot of buffalo excrement etc and the air quality near the hospital is about to drop significantly. I believe the area being used will come to within 150 metres of the hospital.

What is also appalling is that as Saanich residents we have to sit and watch Mr V and his minions do this. But he is apparently within his rights given the current rules in Saanich. I am suspicious that it may be simply a way to show he can do whatever he wants with his land and perhaps a reaction to the failure of the CRD idea.

Weirdly I found the Vs listed as supporters of the Forest Action Group opposing development at Bear Mountain that would take out forest areas. Maybe they can be convinced to be true to these values with their own land?

Here is the list if anyone wants to contact him and ask.

http://forestaction....membership list

 

 

V. made buckets of money financing Bear Mountain development. I think that he is a smart businessman and knows how to play both sides when needed.



#53 spanky123

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Posted 14 November 2015 - 10:31 AM

^ I wouldn't be surprised if this had been organized as a cheap win for the mayor at the expense of some of the other council members.

 

Regardless, it is a shame the new mayor is still not working well with his fellow council members.  I gave him the benefit of the doubt for most of this year but now my opinion has completely shifted.

 

Regardless of which side you blame, the simple fact is that they don't work together. Nowhere is this clearer then in the selection of a CAO. We are coming up to a year since the CAO quit/was fired and we have no full time replacement. From what I hear there is no chance of any agreement on a replacement either. I think that Laidlaw is a decent guy but he can't drive anything through staff if everything thinks he may be gone in a month.



#54 spanky123

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Posted 14 November 2015 - 10:32 AM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kM-Y2SxvnGo

 

Now we're talking.

 

I took at look at the property today while I was out for a bike ride. Here are my opinions / conclusions.

 

It doesn't appear as though any tree removal work has been done since the initial photo shoot a couple of weeks ago. It appears as though the cut lumber is still sitting on the property and the saw is positioned in the same location. There was nobody working when I was there.

 

Looking at the property my assessment is that most of the lumber would have little commercial value. Unless you can get a 2x4 from a 2" diameter tree then it appears to me as though most of the wood is low grade and too small to cover any more than removal costs

 

There are areas of the property which look as though they are in fallow and were cut many years ago. My guess is that those are the only real areas that can be farmed. Most of the treed terrain looks too hilly or rocky to be useful as farmland. If it was commercially viable then I would think that it would have been cleared like the other areas previously.

 

Atwell was quoted yesterday in the Saanich News as stating that there is still time to act on this property. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see an out of the blue motion from him on Monday to purchase the land or try again to get it forwarded to the CRD.


Edited by spanky123, 14 November 2015 - 01:12 PM.


#55 VicHockeyFan

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Posted 22 November 2015 - 09:21 AM

http://www.timescolo...h.9pk1iuyy.dpuf

 

Saanich Mayor Richard Atwell said Saturday that he hopes the ongoing removal of 4,900 trees opposite Victoria General Hospital on Watkiss Way can be stopped, so that alternatives can be broached with property owner Allen Vandekerkhove....

 

Vandekerkhove said last week that he was not open to meeting with community leaders...

 

“Impossible, we’re totally committed. I can’t stop it now and I don’t want to stop it...

 

I just want to do what I want to do based on the rules that apply to me.”

 

The land was for sale for five years and could have been bought by anyone, government included, he said. Vandekerkhove paid $1.2 million for the property.

 

 

 

THERE, that sums it up.  If the municipality now goes and buys it, it's ridicualous.


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#56 spanky123

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Posted 22 November 2015 - 09:44 AM

http://www.timescolo...h.9pk1iuyy.dpuf

 

 

 

 

THERE, that sums it up.  If the municipality now goes and buys it, it's ridicualous.

 

At a nice tidy premium to what he actually paid for it. I was surprised that Atwell didn't make the motion last Monday night. Perhaps he tried behind the scenes and didn't get support so he is out in the media to build his case while Mr. V slowly cuts down one tree at a time!


Edited by spanky123, 22 November 2015 - 09:44 AM.


#57 Mike K.

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Posted 22 November 2015 - 10:11 PM

November 22

 

vandekerkhove-logging-November-2015a.jpg

 

vandekerkhove-logging-November-2015b.jpg

 

vandekerkhove-logging-November-2015c.jpg

 

vandekerkhove-logging-November-2015d.jpg


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#58 spanky123

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Posted 23 November 2015 - 06:29 AM

^Has the logging equipment been removed from the property? Can't see anything from the pictures.



#59 Rob Randall

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Posted 01 July 2016 - 10:53 PM

July 1, 2016:

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