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THE BRUSSELS POST, FEBRUARY 18, 1981 — 17
armers control farming
Speaker tells Huron F of A
BY ALICE GIBB
Huron County Federation
of Agriculture members were
told last Thursday night in.
Brucefield it's time farmers
had control of their industry,
The man delivering this
message was George
Kloster, chairman of the
Ontario Federation of
Agriculture's (OFA) environ-
ment committee, and an
Oxford County farmer.
Before Mr. Kloster started
speaking on the need for
'safeguards for the farming
industry, federation
members were handed a
copy of the OFA's proposed
Agricultural Development
and Protection Act, which
the federation plans to
present to the provincial
government. The act, which
now has the status of a
working paper, is currently
under discussion by county
federations around the
province.
One of the act's major
proposals is provincial
agricultural zoning, to be
implemented in any
municipality with
agricultural land and which
would "in effect, result in
agricultural reserves."
The act recommends a
reserve could be established
on agricultural areas pre-
sently designated in existing
official plans and could
include any farmland 1,000
feet outside the perimeter of
urban, commercial or
industrial zones.
An agricultural zone
designation would be
considered by the Ontario
Ministry of Agriculture. and
Food (OMAF) only "when a
petition is filed with the
ministry . . . . containing the
names of at least 20 per cent
of the landowners eligible to
receive the farm tax rebate."
A referendum on the
zoning could then be held in
the municipality within three
months by voters receiving
the farm rebate.
"A majority vote would be
sufficient to accept or defeat
the question, A decision for
or against the referendum
would be binding for a period
of five years at which time
another referendum would
be held, if petitioned."
Under the proposed act,
once an area is designated as
an agricultural reserve, no
severances would be allowed
on the land, no land could be
converted from farmland to
non-agricultural uses,
absentee foreign holdings of
farmland exceeding 25 acres
would have to be divested
within three years, and
conversions to other
approved uses, such as using
the land to remove aggregate
(gravel) would require
OMAF approval.
TAKES PRECEDENCE
Also, in the case of
multiple zone designations of
the land, agriculture would
take precedence over other
designated uses.
Other proposals outlined
in the act, include the
development of an
agricultural development
agency, "to provide
technical and/or financial
assistance in the areas of
pollution abatement and
conservation." Also, the act
calls for an agricultural
promotion agency, to serve
as a voice for farmers in
Ontario and to show the
public the diversity and
complexity of the farming
industry. Also, "problems of
contact between non-farm
and farm residents would be
shown in the hope that the
public would become aware
that agriculture is a
commercial activity which is
often characterized by
annoyances not commonly
found in urban areas,"
TRANSFER TO OMAF
Finally, the act also calls
for the transfer of the Farm
Pollution Advisory
Committee, now operating
under the Ministry of
Environment and ruling on
complaints of animal waste
disposal and other farm
pollution, to the Ministry of
Agriculture and Food.
The working paper states,
"The board would be
formalized and empowered
to investigate the wider
range of complaints'
including noise, waste and
odour." Also, the board
would recommend what
action should be taken on.
complaints received and, in
the case when a farmer
doesn't co-operate with
recommendations, whether
he should be fined or taken to
court.
George Kloster told the
Gordon David Kelly, 51, of
Port Stanley has been
charged with break enter and
theft in connection with a
robbery at the home of
Graeme MacDonald of R.R.
2, Brussels on January 14.
The man, who had taken a
chest of silverware worth
$300. was arrested in St.
Thomas on Monday •
according to Wingham OPP
and is presently awaiting a
bail hearing.
audience that in his opinion,
the proposed act "leaves a
lot to be desired," He was
particularly critical of the
idea that agricultural reserve
land zonings could be the
subject of a vote every five
years, He said already, in
some areas where farmers
want to expand their
operations, they're being
prevented from doing so,
since urban expansion means
the land will be zoned
differently within the next
two or three years.
Also, Mr. Kloster asked
why the OFA couldn't use a
document already in
existence, the government's
Strategy for the Preservation
of Agricultural Land, to draw
up its own land use
guidelines.
The speaker also called for
a uniform land use policy
right across the province.
While he said the
Agricultural Development
and Protection Act working
paper, prepared by 'a
He is to appear in
Wingham Provincial court on
March 11.
A Post Classified will pay
you dividends. Have you
tried one? Dial Brussels
887-664 I .
member of the OFA staff,
was good "in theory", he
said he believes it will be
some time before it's refined
for presentation to the
Minister of Agriculture.
Before discussion on the
document concluded, Merle
Gunby, an Ashficld
Township farmer and past
president of the Huror.
Federation, said he believed
the county federation's land
use policy plan is more
comp rehensive than the
provinicial organization',,
document.
The proposed act will h,
discussed by other county
organizations, and um.
taken back to the OFA for
revision.
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Man charged after
silverware stolen
in Brussels