The Editor,
Re: "Terra Nova created by many," Letters, Sept. 19.
I was surprised to read Marion Smith's letter in your Sept. 19 edition of the Richmond News, especially after receiving a telephone call from her associate, to whom I acknowledged the previous work of the Save Richmond Farmland Society (SRFS). I offered to meet or speak further with her or any of her SRFS colleagues.
The SRFS's surprise at learning of my involvement in the Terra Nova Park may be due to the fact that I did not involve the media in the process.
Years of meetings and correspondence with the parties involved got the job done. The "profile" in the Richmond News is the first public mention I've made of the issue.
The city removed the agricultural zoning (it was never ALR) and placed the lands in the category "under study." This was not a zoning, but rather a state of limbo, under which the land owners had been held to ransom for eight years by the time I became involved.
Neither the owners, nor a prospective buyer, knew what could be done with the land.
The intended purpose for this category was for the city to commission a study, which, in those eight years, had not been done. As long as the owners remained quiet and no one lobbied on their behalf, the status quo remained.
With contracts in hand and price established between owners and a developer, I worked to encourage the city to move on the issue.
Eventually, a study was commissioned, however, upon receipt of the first draft, the city cancelled the commission.
In exasperation, I suggested we had three options: involve the provincial ombudsman; the courts; or place the question before the public, as either a referendum or a plebiscite on the upcoming election ballot.
As history evidences, the latter was chosen, with a positive result, allowing the negotiation of individual contracts for the owners.
During this period, there were no meetings, conversations, correspondence, or negotiations involving anyone from SRFS.
Ms. Smith, I will be happy to receive your call, to continue dialogue in a less public way.
Yvonne Harwood Richmond
