The administrator of British Columbia’s Agricultural Land Reserve will review its fee structure and methods of handling exemptions as a result of proposed legislation tabled Nov. 14.
The Agricultural Land Commission administers matters involving the 11.6 million acres designated in B.C. primarily for agricultural use.
Applications for non-agricultural use of the land come under its purview.
Its annual budget of $2 million was augmented last week by an additional $1.6 million, earmarked to help the commission improve efficiency in its handling of 600 to 1,000 applications per year involving ALR land.
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B.C. agriculture minister Don McRae said the province continues to support the ALR.
“I think agricultural land and agriculture in general is probably more in the public consciousness today than it’s been in a very long time, if ever,” McRae said.
Proposed changes include:
• placing a five-year moratorium on repeat applications to exclude land from the ALR
• having the ALC cover more of its costs, possibly by fee increases
• giving the chair more oversight of regional panels
• hiring a chief executive officer
• enhancing website services
• working with local governments
• developing a new bylaw for residential uses in the ALR
McRae said the proposals are a result of extensive consultations with more than 60 organizations and 300 individuals.
They also stem from a report that ALC chair Richard Bullock submitted to the agricultural ministry last November. In it, he referred to overwhelming support for the ALR but concerns about inadequate funding.
“Over the last two fiscal years, the ALC has been forced to focus on processing applications with minimum or no attention being given to its other statutory obligations,” Bullock wrote in his report.
“This has led to stakeholders’ dissatisfaction, particularly at the local government level, because the ALC is not available to discuss local and regional matters or to deal with emerging or ongoing issues such as the impact of oil and gas activities on agriculture in northeast B.C.”
