T.D.L. - Spetifore Farmlands
B.C. Government ignores local, federal and international requests for protection of the Boundary bay Coastal Zone.
For years the B.C. Government has received repeated requests by citizen groups and the federal government to fully protect the Boundary Bay coastal zone.
One of the groups, the International Waterflow and Wetlands Research Bureau (I.W.R.B.), published in their newsletter they had received a letter from Bruce Stracham, Minister of Environment, stating that Mr. Vander Zalm "intends to establish the entire area as a Wildllife Management Area."
The organization learned that the B.C. government intended to press for Ramsar designation* to provide international support for conservation activities.
In the meantime Delta Municipal Council is busy rezoning lands adjacent to Boundary Bay for golf courses.
Where is the B.C. government's protection of the environment? What happened to Vander Zalm's commitment to I.W.R.B.?
*The Ramsar Convention is an international treaty supported by 38 countries edicated to providing protection of wetland habitats. The B.C. government has been repeatedly asked to protect the Boundary Bay coastal zone under the Ramsar designation.
In 1981 the B.C. government passed an order in council #33 that approved exclusion of T.D.L. - Spetifore farmlands from the Agricultural Land Reserve. In November 1988, at the public hearing, the proposal for rezoning for houses was rejected by speaker after speaker. T.D.L. Ltd., the company developing the land, withdrew it's proposal.
The proposal with reduced density housing is now back and will be debated at the public hearing on May 1, 1989. The proposal will increase the population of Delta by 25%, and the following number of acres in the heart of Tsawwassen will be rezoned from agricultural to urban.
- Spetifore Farm 750 Acres
- Twin Oakes 49 Acres
- Wellburn 10 Acres
- Total 817 Acres
The site is probably unique on this continent because it contains tidal flats, wetlands, freshwater marshes, farmlands, meadows and mature forest; combined with significant archeological deposits (1500 - 500 B.C., including several burial sites) and geological features, dyke access and spectacular views. Portions of the property have been farmed since before the turn of the century, and at least one heritage building is believed to be on site.
As part of the Boundary Bay farmland belt, the T.D.L. property helps provide feeding and resting areas for the herons, hawks, owls and eagles who use the forest for perching. The approximately 70 acre forest on the property is one of the few left in the Fraser delta, and the only one left in South Delta. It contains at least 100 species of birds and mammals and at least 140 species of plants and trees.
