Forests & Oceans for the Future Discussion and News

Comments by Charles Menzies on saving the UBC Farm and related ‘green’ issues.

SAVE UBC FARM – The Petition Site

# 2,378: 10:12 pm PDT, Oct 8, Charles Menzies, Canada The farm is a critically important part of the university.

The Ubyssey chimes in on campus consultations

One thing that struck me from the workshop that I was at was the apparent intransigence of the UBC administration on the various issues they were presented with. It seems clear that what is needed in our community is more effective local governance. I think it is fair to say that we need a consultation and review process that is not tied tot he development arm of the university. The potential for conflicting interests is too strong. What is needed is an arms length process that can make decisions. It seems more and more clear that some form of local government is required.

Bill Tieleman: Tieleman to MC South Fraser Perimeter Road town hall meeting in Delta Wednesday October 23

The discussion around the perimeter road is a critical one. It raises very clearly the need for effective transportation modes and corridors, but that shouldn’t mean more roads and concrete. There needs to be alternative forms of transportation and less reliance upon automobile transport in our regional transportation systems.

These large scale road projects are also instrumental in reducing valuable farmland from production.

The entire gateway project is really a throwback to a mid-20th century vision of progress and transportation. We really need to be generating plans that allow people to live and work in their home communities, rather than building systems that are really more about real estate values than about sustainable living.

Campus Plan concepts spurned by farm supporters | Ubyssey Online

It is a shame that by not dealing effectively with the concerns of the UBC Farm and it’s important place within the community UBC’s plan is set to falter. If the workshops are any indication, the issue of the farm will remain significant and will likely obscure discussion of other aspects of the campus plan.

That’s a shame, but UBC’s planning division could have done something to fix that. Let’s hope that they are able to pick up the pieces and do a quick rethink on the Farm so that we can move forward to the other critical aspects of the plan.

For example, do we really want a large urban core of high rise apartments in the center of campus? That’s one of the plans.

What’s the impact on campus and community life of filling in all the open spaces with mixed use residential/academic/retail?

There are questions about why the need for a doubling of student housing when the University is predicting a decline by several thousand of the undergraduate student population. In the face of declining student enrollments (in the K-12 education system the decline is predicated to continue through to 2017, that will bring the decline of enrolments for post-secondary into about 2020-2022). There is a need for more student housing. But why does UBC Planning seem to balance need for housing against keeping the farm?

There are lots of questions that need to be considered that will be overlooked as a result to the way this planning consultation appears headed.

Perhaps if we had our own local level government we would have a better chance being heard in the planning offices.

Blogger: UBC Insiders – Post a Comment

Given the number of people who have signed this petition I certainly hope that the University administration consider an alternative to development on the UBC Farm.

I am currently planning a course that on traditional ecological knowledge that I will be teaching next year. I hope that there farm and associated forests will still be there. It would be a shame to have them destroyed by campus development!

FieldNotes: for the Anthropology of British Columbia Political Consensus Opposes Drilling in Klappan

The Terrace Standard reports that Nathan Cuthen’s (NDP) victory in the Skeena-Bulkley Valley riding in the recent federal election was partly the result of his association with anti-coal bed methane drilling in the Klappan. Consensus among candidates against drilling appears to exist in the region. But, it seems that Cullen was better than other candidates at publicizing his opposition.

(Note: The article reviews briefly the history of protests against CBM drilling in the Klappan. It notes the emotional character of the label ’sacred headwaters’ and the shift in focus for the protests from the Tahltan and their concerns to salmon.

First Nations to debate BC pipeline plans :: The Hook

First Nation groups will band togehter in Hartley Bay later this month to discuss the cumulative impacts posed by pipeline projects that would slice through northern British Columbia.

Office of the Wet’suwet’en natural resources manager David deWit said he hopes to see roughly 40 communities between Fort Chipewyan, near the Alberta oilsands, and Kitimat represented at the meeting.

“We’ve all been dealing in isolation,” deWit said. “But I think there’s a reality of creating this alliance.”