Summerland Council votes in favour of land swap

SUMMERLAND–It may not be much of a surprise but it is a huge disappointment for opponents of a controversial land swap proposal in Summerland.

In front of a packed council chamber Monday evening, the Mayor and Council voted in favour of removing 80 hectares of some of the town’s best farmland from the Agricultural Land Reserve.

In a 4-1 vote council adopted the proposal that would see the 80 hectares taken out of the ALR, replaced with 90 hectares of land further away in the Summerland Hills.

There have been a number of town hall meetings and public hearings on this issue where the majority of residents voiced opposition to the land swap.

3000 people, including 15 hundred Summerlanders signed the ‘Stop the Swap’ petition.

Most of Monday’s standing room only crowd told Global News that they felt like council did not listen to the community and instead followed it’s own agenda.

This new bylaw, which is part of Summerland’s proposed new Urban Growth Plan, will now have to be approved by the Agricultural Land Commission and will come before council once more for final adoption.