The Lucknow Sentinel, 2015-09-23, Page 3Wednesday, September 23, 2015 • Lucknow Sentinel 3
2015 Lucknow Fall Fair Parade
rnotos compliments
of Donna Hazelden
Area banana farm under multiple stop work orders
Laura Broadley
Clinton News Record
An issue dividing a munic-
ipality and the county comes
down to a farm near Blyth.
Canada Banana Farms is
facing multiple stop -work
orders from both the Munic-
ipality of North Huron and
Huron County.
The farm has seen its fair
share of legal troubles since
it opened four years ago.
Canada Banana Farms' Terry
Brake said they originally
met with the building
inspector at the time and
told them what the farm was
going to be doing.
"As soon as we start put-
ting up the hoophouses eve-
rybody starts complaining,"
said Brake.
The farm is under a cease
and desist order for building
more hoophouses.
Brake claimed the munic-
ipality is requiring the farm
pay commercial building
tax even though he said
he has a letter stating the
hoophouses are not perma-
nent structures. The munici-
pality is resisting because it
is claiming the farm is a
commercial operation and
should be paying commer-
cial taxes.
Brake said the farm has
also been told it can no
longer cut trees for heating.
Brake said Huron
County was originally okay
with the practice of cutting
trees on the property to
heat the greenhouses and
home, which he said is
common.
David Pullen, forest con-
servation officer with Huron
County, said he couldn't
comment on Canada
Banana Farms specifically
but said there is a bylaw in
place to regulate commercial
harvesting and clearing of
forests.
"By caring for their wood-
lands, property owners in
Huron County are making a
major contribution to soil
conservation as well as to
protecting the quality of our
water," said Pullen.
As of September 3 the
farm has been placed under
a stop work order and must
cease activities because
there is an allegation that it is
operating on wetlands. This
means some of the produce
ready for consumption will
be thrown away.
Conservation Authorities
regulate river and stream
valleys to ensure that activi-
ties do not worsen existing
erosion and flooding haz-
ards, that new hazards are
not created and that new
development is not at risk,
according to Conservation
Ontario.
The farm gets about a
tonne of bananas each week
but under the stop work
order it can't sell any of the
produce and much of it will
go to waste. At this point the
farm isn't allowed to give
food away to people in need,
which it does on a regular
basis, said Brake.
"You can only freeze so
many for making banana
bread," said Brake.
Huron County, the Munic-
ipality of North Huron and
[IiiiiitrnTwiisiii
the Maitland Valley Conser-
vation Authority all stated
they couldn't comment on
Canada Banana Farms spe-
cifically because of the ongo-
ing legal matters.
MVCA Large Stock Tree Service
This service offers larger
trees for stream buffers,
windbreaks, reforestation
and roadside plantings. A
variety of native hardwood (6-7 ft.
bare root) and coniferous trees (2 ft.
balled and burlapped) are available.
Applicants are responsible for
picking up theft order from the
MVCA. The deadline for 2016
orders is Sept. 30, 2015.
GRANTS AVAILABLE in Huron and Wellington Counties!
Call or email the MVCA for information.
Maitland Valley Conservation Authority
[e] trees@mvca.on.ca
[w] www.mvca.on.ca
[t] 519-335-3557
Please contact the MVCA
for information on species
availability, costs and the
application process.