The lobby effort to move container port expansion away from South Delta farmland will take another direction.
Mayor Lois Jackson, who was part of a delegation that visited the Village of Ashcroft earlier this month to see a terminal expansion proposal there, said suppliers and other businesses will be approached to explore their needs as well as what it would take to convince them to locate to the Interior.
"We want to see if this is going to work for them financially. This is the business case we're working on right now, the business case for cost benefit for the people who will be paying the freight, the people receiving and sending the containers," she said.
Delta organized the tour of Ashcroft Terminal with Lower Mainland port, rail and trucking officials. The fact-finding tour was the latest effort by Delta to convince those looking at port expansion at Roberts Bank that Ashcroft remains a viable alternative to covering Delta farmland with warehouses and containers.
An earlier meeting organized by Jackson was held in Delta with the various stakeholders, as well as Ashcroft Mayor Andy Anderson and the terminal owner, to discuss the alternative link for the Asia-Pacific Gateway Corridor.
The Ashcroft Terminal expansion proposal is being pushed by some because the site has the necessary industrial zoning in place, Canadian National Railway Company and Canadian Pacific Railway rail lines running through it, as well as the support of neighbouring communities.
The Ashcroft Terminal website states its expansion would provide efficiency in the Canadian logistics chain for a wide range of shippers and producers while supporting growth in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District.
Jackson said they were extremely well received by the people of Ashcroft and there was a real sense of eagerness and optimism for a container project to be located there.
"I started this selfishly to preserve the land around the port for agriculture. For Andy Anderson, the motivation is to get more jobs into Ashcroft and into that area," Jackson said.
"It's really a very good location. The industrial land base here is very, very expensive," she added.
A major component of Port Metro Vancouver's plan to handle a projected growth in container traffic is Terminal 2 (T2), a proposed three-berth terminal that would be constructed adjacent to the existing Deltaport terminal at Roberts Bank.
The port authority earlier this year unveiled a preliminary design for T2.
The port authority, meantime, is also in the process of updating its land use plan, which has heightened concerns over the future of Delta's farmland, including whether much of it could be converted to industrial uses to service port growth.
Last year, Delta South MLA Vicki Huntington revealed that an industrial consortium is behind the optioning of 226 hectares (558 acres) in the Agricultural Land Reserve.
A recently released report by the port authority on its land use consultation noted
agricultural land was seen by many who provided feedback as being threatened by port expansion.
"A frequently voiced perspective was that agricultural lands should not be used for port expansion. Participants also felt that the port should focus on efficiency by making best use of what is already available, intensifying operations within existing port lands, and ensuring that uses and facilities are complementary," the report states.
"Some participants recommended that the port explore potential options to utilize lands and facilities off the waterfront or outside its jurisdiction to support port activity and reduce the need for the port to acquire new land."
Concerns prime agricultural land in South Delta will be converted to industrial and logistic uses were dealt another blow when Port Moody recently served notice to Metro Vancouver that it may seek to amend the Regional Growth Strategy to redesignate 1,000 acres of industrial land at Burrard Inlet.
Richmond city councillor Harold Steves, one of the architects of the ALR and a vocal opponent of port expansion at Roberts Bank, blasted the move on his Facebook page, saying it will inevitably put more pressure on farmland in Delta.
"Seriously considering the redevelopment of our industrial lands and ensuing loss of farmland is the height of madness," he said.
