The province is moving to stop the “swiss-cheesing” of farmland.
That’s according to the agriculture minister, Lana Popham who says more changes are coming to the Agricultural Land Reserve and the Agricultural Land Commission.
A new bill is proposing the Commission will have guaranteed regional representation and, at the same time, the province is changing the rule that private landowners, who want to remove land from the ALC need to work through.
Under the new rules it will be local government that will make the application, so it is clear that the requested exclusion fits with local area plans and community standards.
Popham says as it stands, small pieces of farmland are being removed in areas and it’s making it more challenging to farm and harder for farming communities to thrive.
