Our Facebook post relating to this issue has resulted in some strong worded feedback in support of Mr. V and his plans to grow hay. Some folks are very upset that we've alluded to the possibility of the land being redeveloped, but everyone seems to have forgotten that Mr. V had purchased the land to then sell it to the CRD for a sewage treatment plant.
Check out some of the commentary:
Ron McNeil - VibrantVictoria serious ? interest from development community ? in ALR, in Saanich, ya right, hell if Mr Van can't do it nobody can...
Jan Sutherland - Please... Are journalists just allowed to make stuff up these days? Where is the proof of what you say? Seems like you're tactics are pretty slimey as well. Freak everyone out that skyscrapers will be built on the land??? Seems to me like you have some hidden agenda yourself. This farmer has supplied my riding school horses with hay for years. Are you aware that there is a hay shortage right now? And that predictions are that this is the future for hay farming on the south island. If the climate is changing and we get hay growing weather like we did this year... No rain... Rain we did get was at the wrong time, resulting in no second cut hay. Current hay farmers would have to irrigate to get a second cut (massively expensive and out of the reach of most hay farmers). The only way to solve this problem is to increase land in hay production so that we can harvest more first cut. Thank god that farmers like Mr. Vanderkerkov are willing to endure the kind of crap you are putting out here. Without farmers like him, my horses (and many others) will be going hungry. This guy is a hay farmer... He has grown hay for ever. He actually doesn't need to work... He is far past retirement... He farms hay because he knows that many of us depend on the hay be grows. So really... Go stir up unnecessary panic somewhere else. Seriously...
Sherri Taylor - Vibrant Victoria, you need to get some of the facts straight before you put information out to the public. The permit has already been issued by Saanich. Well within the landowners rights under the current zoning of the property. The landowner has grown a haycrop for 30+ years on his other farmland beside this property. Trying to have property removed from the ALR is nearly impossible, so development in the foreseeable future will not happen unless Saanich completely revamps the ALR/Urban Containment Boundaries.
Obviously this issue has struck a chord. I don't get it. The land is nudged up against a subdivision, it's right across the street from a massive hospital compound, and the area's largest commercial shopping centre is nearing completion on an adjacent property, and we're out of line for opining that there's a real likelihood of the land being developed at some point in the future? It was proposed for usage as a sewage treatment plant by the same owner, for crying out loud