
Summerland council sent a subtle, but clear message to the provincial government — they remain very unhappy and frustrated with the decision to unilaterally approve a large gravel pit operation on Garnet Valley Road.
Last summer, the provincial Ministry of Energy and Mines gave its tentative approval to a controversial gravel pit mining operation on Garnet Valley Road.
At the time, Summerland Mayor Doug Holmes and Summerland Chamber of Commerce executive director Sally Pierce were both dumbfounded that an inspector from the ministry had approved the project, despite months of vocal and consistent opposition from Summerland council, local business owners and the community at large.
During Tuesday’s regular meeting, a discussion was held in relation to proposed resolutions council would like to present at the upcoming Southern Interior Local Government Association annual general meeting this spring in Merritt.
Making sure it’s worded strongly
During a discussion about the wording of the resolution, members of council made it very clear that they believe they should have been consulted before any final decision was made by the provincial government and they don’t want a similar situation to happen again.
Part of the wording of the resolution asked that the provincial government, when it comes to approving gravel pits, “take meaningful efforts to work with local governments” and change it “to work with local governments because we don’t want them making meaningful efforts, we want them to work with us,” said Mayor Doug Holmes. “We don’t want them to make an effort to work with us. We want them to work with us.”
The resolution also deals with the fact the provincial government currently has “no requirement for them to follow their own principles. They have their own aggregate management principles established by the province and when we met with them, we asked them ‘why didn’t you follow your own principles and they said ‘we leave that to the statutory decision maker to decide what to do or not,’” said Holmes.
There is no point in having a detailed set of principles on serious issues like this “if you’re not even required to follow your own principles. It’s not our zoning bylaw. It’s their principles they ought to be following.”
One of those principles is to work with local governments to avoid conflicts, but this was not done in this case, said Holmes.
“That’s the one principle that really effects us,” he said.
Where was the effort to avoid conflict?
The resolution presented clearly states that if a proposed project doesn’t conform to local zoning bylaws, the government should assume that is going to cause conflicts between them and municipal leaders and its citizens, said Holmes.
“You gotta assume there’s going to be conflicts and you ought to be working with local government,” he said. “That’s basically what this (resolution) is saying. That’s all it is. We’re asking, can you please follow your own principles.”
Coun. Adrienne Betts said the proposed resolution makes sense to her and it should to the provincial government.
“It’s like we’re preaching the obvious,” she said. “The fact they didn’t follow their principles ... we can’t legislate that.”
Coun. Erin Trainer said having government make unilateral decisions on important issues like gravel pits without having any discussion with the municipality and its leaders is wrong and makes little sense.
“It’s almost like these mine approvals need a Senate to go through,” she said. “Once they are approved by a statutory decision makers, they need a second set of eyes to apply the principles as well.
“Because otherwise, I feel like they’re just policing themselves.”
Any suggestion by the provincial government that they consulted in any way with anyone from Summerland council or senior administration would not be accurate, said Holmes.
“I don’t think any reasonable person could say that they worked with us,” said Holmes. “They didn’t at all. Not at all. They didn’t even talk to us. Maybe if we got a little further down the road, you could have a dispute on what working with us (means), but not even making a phone call isn’t working with us.”
CAO Graham Statt added his input confirming no one from the provincial government consulted anyone at town hall ever during the process in approving the gravel pit.
“Nor did they make a meaningful effort to work with us,” he said. “They didn’t even meet that standard.”
Holmes again stated his frustration.
“Anything is better than what they did,” he said.
The final resolution approved by council stated:
“Whereas conflicts arise when the provincial Ministry responsible for mining chooses to override local government zoning to approve new gravel pits and other aggregate activities in the area not zoned for such purposes;
“And whereas provincial aggregate management principles state that the Ministry should work with local governments to reduce conflicts that can develop when aggregate activities are proposed in urban and populated rural areas;
“And whereas consideration of the provincial aggregate management principles is at the discretion of the statutory decision maker within the responsible Ministry and there is no requirement for them to follow their own principles;
“Therefore, be it resolved that UBCM request the government of B.C. to require statutory decision makers to work with local governments to resolve conflicts, prior to approving aggregate activities under a Mining Acts permit whenever a proposed activity does not conform to existing local government zoning.”
All resolutions submitted at the SILGA AGM must be about regional issues and endorsed by members of the respective municipal councils before Feb. 21.
The BC Wildlife Federation has made it clear the proposed site is located right in the middle of long-established habitat for deer, Bighorn Sheep, mule deer and numerous other species, Holmes said.
“That’s a real concern and a concern that appears to have been ignored,” he said.
This story originally appeared in the Penticton Herald and is shared via the Local Journalism Initiative