Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Barnston Island
In Surrey, there is a small agricultural island located off on the coast of the Fraser River. A recent proposal to removed Barnston Island out of the agricultural land reserve (ALR) sparked concerns over the lack of consideration given to protecting more farm land from disappearing out of the ALR. A classmate in my political science class did her project on this problem and after hearing about the growing amount of land being taken out of the ALR, I made an effort this summer to take a moment to go and visit this unique island in Surrey.
Once I turned off into Exit 50 of Highway 1 East, I had some difficulty deciding whether I was suppose to turn left to 140 Ave East or right to 140 AveWest. I eventually found the ferry terminal located at the foot of 104 Ave. In less than five minutes, a tug boat with a ramp pulled up towards the dock. There was a little traffic light posted on the left, used to indicate when it was safe for vehicles to drive up onto the ferry. In five minutes, the ferry had reached the other end of the river and I was at Barnston Island. I was greeted by a large vast landscape of green, rich farm land with barns, stables, cows, and horses habitating this unique island in the middle of the GVRD.
There is no parking on the island so, I just quickly took a couple of snap shots of the place. During the drive, one could spot a family of eagles soaring in the sky. It is difficult to take photos while driving in a 50 km/h zone. Fortunately my uncle agreed to take over as the driver. The trip was a pleasant, peaceful experience that gave me, the city girl, a good feeling of what country life would be like with out any running water.
Barnston Island is a great place for any bike enthusiasts or hikers. It took me about 45 minutes to drive around the island because I was driving at 30 km/h, but if you follow the 50km/h speed limit you should get around the whole island in 20 minutes. During my visit, I learnt Avalon Milk company, an independently run and locally based dairy business operates out of Barnston Island. If you look across the river from the ferry terminal, a visitor will see a local saw mill plant. Some local residents on the island also have their own fishing boats parked out on the side of their land just a kiddy corner away from the small barnston island dock. Apparently a portion of the island is a First Nations Land Reserve and when you enter the reserve area, you will see a sign posted up on the side of the road with the following message: "Welcome to the First Nations Land Reserve on Barnston Island."
A couple of households still had signs posted that said "Save Barnston Island!" These signs were left overs from the Barnston Island protests when there was a high possibility that the Island would be taken out of the ALR and this would mean the zoning code for the area would also change in conjunction to this developement. All of the local media outlets covered this well publicized story and how there was a lack of accountability on the ALR board commitee. The final decision was to let Barnston Island remain in the ALR despite a large amont of pressure brought on by some developers and land owners on the island to have this place developed into a industrial or commercial area.
I am glad to hear the ALR commitee ruled in favour of keeping this unique agricultural island in the ALR, because BC is one of the only provinces in Canada that still holds rich, top grade 1 soil, a very rare kind of soil in the world. It would be a shame to see this land developed for commercial uses when, there is already a shortage of farmland in the Greater Vancouver Regional District. More and more farmland is disappearing as the growing pressure and need for more residential housing rises, but the question is what would we gain if we remove more farmland out of the agricultural land reserve? Developers and land owners would probably gain a short term profit, but the whole GVRD would lose valuable farm land and a stable food source forever. It is important for us to protect the remaining agricultural land in our province, because it helps to sustain and level off the food demand from the city. We all need food to survive and if we continue to diminish our agricultural land, our city will be forced to become increasingly more dependent on international food sources to provide a sufficient food supply for the population.
# posted by rambaldidevice @ 9:33 PM 
