Author: Ian Cameron, Citizen Journalist

     The ‘right to farm’ is currently in the news in Central Saanich, this time caused by the composting operation on the Stanhope Dairy Farm on Old East Saanich Road, just inside the Saanich border.

     In the early-to-mid 20th century, the Stanhope Dairy Farm occupied a large piece of land in what was then rural Saanich, on the southeast corner of Shelbourne and Cedar Hill X Road, which the family sold when the city moved out to them in the 1950′s. They bought land in the southeastern part of Central Saanich, far from any built-up area, because they saw Central Saanich as a farm-friendly municipality that wouldn’t let the area become urban. But the city followed them, and now there are neighbours complaining about their composting operation, which, as farm manager Matt Mansell points out, has been in operation since the family moved to the location in 1956, albeit the present operation greatly exceeds the previous composting operation.

     Residents complained that during the fill operation which lasted several months, there was an average of one large truck using the narrow 1 ½ lane road every 17 seconds.  This, they feel, was not a normal farm practice under any definition.

     Central Saanich mayor Jack Mar has said that, “they want to bring in institutional and restaurant material for composting to use on the farm. Bringing the material in is under provincial and Agricultural Land Commission guidelines. We don’t have any say in it because they haven’t broken any rules.”

     To be exact, the issue is covered in the Farm Practices Protection (Right to Farm) Act, which says, “Farmers have a right to farm in BC’s important farming areas, particularly the Agricultural Land Reserve, provided they use normal farm practices and follow other legislation listed in the act (Environmental Management Act, Integrated Pest Management Act, Health Act and their regulations).”

     This is not the first time that the issue has come up in Central Saanich.  Since the Act was brought in in 1989, Central  Saanich residents have complained about compost, noise (bird scaring devices), traffic activity, smell (poultry farm), and a sign on a water tower. Generally, councils have withstood the complaints of neighbours, but not always. In the early 1990’s, the owner of the property on the north-west corner of Central Saanich Road and Keating Cross Road wanted to subdivide, (there were houses across the street and north on Central Saanich Road), while the council of the day did not want to rezone it. The owner turned the property into a pig farm, causing a considerable stink in more ways than one, which resulted in council backing down and approving the subdivision.

     Residents of Central Saanich recognized the urban/farm problem when they adopted the Official Community Plan, which makes it very clear that farming and urban areas should be well separated, and when they cannot be separated agriculture will come first.  Policy 1 of Section 3.2.2 of the OCP reads as follows:  “Recognize and support normal farm practices as defined by the Farm Practices Protection (Right to Farm) Act in the vicinity of residential areas. Central Saanich is a predominantly agricultural area, and certain uses with possible undesirable side effects, such as odours from fertilizers and animal noises are to be expected in an agricultural area. In the case of conflict with adjacent development, the agricultural use will be favoured.”

     While the Central Saanich council has upheld the Stanhope Farm’s right to farm, which affected at most 20 homes, it may be a different scenario if the Vantreight development goes through.  With 57 houses, some with suites, and virtually no buffer to the adjoining farmland, there is an increased risk that council will be inundated with complaints about noise, smells, and machinery on the roads.

     As the OCP is ignored, the chances that the right to farm will take a back seat to residential and institutional densification increases.

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