The boost for the Agricultural Land Commission is long overdue, says Coun. Ian Paton. Earlier this month, the province announced a 33 per cent ($1.1 million) budget increase for the ALC to fulfil its mandate of protecting farmland and to delivering services in a timely manner.
The improved funding is aimed at helping compliance and enforcement activities as well as improved levels of service. Changes announced for the commission's service delivery includes a refund to applicants if their application is not processed within a defined time.
"Honestly, I think it was Delta who started this and we led the charge time and time again in the last two years, not only with the land commission but at UBCM (Union of BC. Municipalities) meetings with the agriculture minister saying how unacceptable it was for simple applications," said Paton, a Ladner farmer.
"So we're really happy with this announcement to increase the funding to the ALC, increase the enforcement people and to speed up all the applications to 60 business working days."
Last summer Delta reiterated its concerns about the length of time it took applications to be processed, requesting to meet with the ALC to discuss opportunities for local governments to make decisions on matters of a "more local scale."
Paton said at the time what was particularly frustrating was that several applications by Delta farm owners submitted to the ALC were sitting on someone's desk for up to a year with no resolution in sight. He noted the ALC already allows local government to make decisions independently regarding the Agricultural Land Reserve in a limited number of cases, such as additional farm house applications, so additional authority could be handed to local governments to process other applications in a timely manner.
Instead, the province last month announced changes to the ALC that included keeping applicants informed by acknowledging receipt of a complete application, or identifying the required additional information, within five business days, as well as making decisions within 60 business days of receiving complete applications and notifying applicants within five business days of the decision being made.
Paton said the applications don't involve subdividing land within the Agricultural Land Reserve or removing land from the reserve, but instead are for simple matters, such as lot line adjustments, that shouldn't have been taking as long to process. Paton, whose father Ian Paton Sr. was a chair of the ALC in the late 1980s, noted new ALC chair Frank Leonard spoke at a recent Delta Farmers' Institute meeting, assuring improvements to service and enforcement.
