A court challenge is under way to determine if a Lacombe County land-use bylaw is legal.
A hearing date has been set for May 2 in Edmonton.
In early February, a group of 27 local producers in the central Alberta community filed papers requesting a judicial review of the process the county used to pass a controversial bylaw last August. The bylaw demands that operators of intensive livestock operations own the land required as a buffer zone, which is designed to protect neighbors from dust, odor and other potential pollutants.
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If critical products are unavailable when needed, it could result in unnecessary human and animal deaths in the worst-case scenario.
“The county has been really dragging their feet in turning over their information for the court record. We have had nine requests to the county for information relevant to the case,” said Albert Kamps, who is part of the Lacombe County Partners in Agriculture group fighting the bylaw.
Using the freedom of information process, the farmers are seeking minutes, memos and other paperwork relevant to the passage of the bylaw.
Telephone calls to the Lacombe County office were not returned.
The provincial government is expected to release its latest review on intensive livestock regulations by the end of this month. Chaired by MLA Albert Klapstein, the review committee gathered opinions across the province regarding industry regulations.
Kamps and other farmers want the province to establish regulations regarding technical requirements similar to those governing the oil and gas industry. The municipalities could maintain responsibility over how land is used.
