Wendy Masterton
I love your button, too bad CVEDS isn't applying this concept to the Duck's unlimited lands aka ALR land where they want to build the $5 to $6 million palace of a farmer's market. Pave paradise and put up a parking lot....booooo
Tom Dishlevoy
I tend to agree with you Wendy on this point. ALthough I am totally in support of the concept of a farmer's market facility, I cannot support the use of a known, historical flood plain as a site for a new building, sensitive estuary lands aside! We need to be much better with our VISIONING!
Paul Hansen
What is the environmental impact of planting a farmers market in that space? Where can we provide a space to honor our agricultural based providers & entreprenuers. Any links for me to see more of this convo?
Tom Dishlevoy
For me we might want to think about taking the produce to the people rather than bringingthem all by car to the center of the farmland. How about the Comox Mall, or the Driftwood Mall where we already have a sea of parking?
Wendy Masterton
I'm not against a farmer's market, but I am against paving ALR and estuary floodplain for it. They're talking about using a huge area (several hectares of land) for the buildings and parking. Also why use taxpayers' dollars and go through CVEDS why not form a society and let it pay for itself through membership and the market itself. Let's find a more sustainable location for the infrastructure portion which is the market itself (buildings and parking lot) and grow crops on this prime ALR land instead. Remember it's not that long ago that the land the Superstore sits on including the parking lot was part of this ALR land and was estuary as well. That was also a very bad deal. I don't want to see history repeat itself, would rather learn from it.
Tom Dishlevoy
We could design a building on this land that would have little impact, but why. Flooding will happen, needs to happen to keep land fertile and this will be very inconvenient. We could build on stilts, or a floatable building. We could build for easy relocation to higher ground when sea level rises as we suggested to other river side owners. But inviting thousands of people in their cars to this spot and elsewhere in the estuary is not wise or visionary.
Wendy Masterton
this is the quote from Phillip Round that concerns me regarding the vastness of the plan and the amount of ALR land that will be lost to paving/concrete/buildings:
In addition to offering space for existing vendors at the proposed building, CVEDS suggests the complex might include agriculture-related educational facilities for North Island College; a permanent shellfish sales centre; a butcher's shop preparing locally-grown meats; a produce distribution centre; a conservation interpretive centre; and offices, meeting rooms and exhibition space.
Sustainability. Regional Growth strategies, hello?
In addition to offering space for existing vendors at the proposed building, CVEDS suggests the complex might include agriculture-related educational facilities for North Island College; a permanent shellfish sales centre; a butcher's shop preparing locally-grown meats; a produce distribution centre; a conservation interpretive centre; and offices, meeting rooms and exhibition space.
Sustainability. Regional Growth strategies, hello?
Wendy Masterton
Tom I LOVE your idea of creating the farmer's markets in the existing malls, they need to fill the empty spaces there, it brings it to the people and the parking exists, this is so simple and yet sustainable, great idea. One market on Wednesday, one on Saturday, perfect. Think of what it would mean to all the Comox residents who could walk or bike to the mall or a change (me included) instead of driving our cars to the market. Ditto for Courtenay. If they want to expand they can take another day in Cumberland in the Recreation Centre...growth and sustainability.
Wendy Masterton
how can we start to influence/encourage the decision makers to have more vision Tom?
Tom Dishlevoy
Philip Round, just the reporter, quoting John Watson I would presume. John has some big ideas, as do many others in the Valley. How do we get the process more collaborative so that the ultimate decisions are made with all the cards on the table, yours, mine and all of ours?
Remember that the various strategy documents were not by/for the politicians and staff, just the public that created them
Remember that the various strategy documents were not by/for the politicians and staff, just the public that created them
Tom Dishlevoy
That last comment does not read as sarcastic as I wrote it!
Paul Hansen
I think the mall parking lot idea is indeed quite brilliantly simple. Double dipping on the use of that concrete and space. I also really like the farmers market idea (in the right location) if it can be a blessing to everyone. Thanks wendy for the info you forwarded me :)
.... and may this continue, here, on the CV2050 page on Facebook
but somewhere in our community where we can extend the conversation on what sustainability looks like in the Comox Valley, and how we get there.
hans
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Posts
Hello folks... this is a great discussion. It goes to the heart of a lot of the problem of 'development' in the Comox Valley and how ideas are put forth and decisions made.
ReplyDeleteAs far as I can tell, this idea originated with CVEDS, a group notorious for avoiding public input or discussion. Despite being funded by about $750,000 of our local tax dollars, they are set up as an 'independent' body and seem to have no sense of responsibility to those taxpayers.
I agree with much of the sentiment expressed here, especially the concern over paving more prime farm land. i think the only way to affect the direction of this proposal is to organize some discussion and action around the whole farmers market direction. Ideally this would involve groups like the farmers market assoc, Lush Valley and even Project Watershed which is spearheading the efforts to preserve the estuary... however, these groups all have their own huge agendas and none seem to be forthcoming to lead the discussion.
The other approach is to simply operate as an ad hoc committee and get a few people together to discuss how to proceed.
The recent VIHA proposal to build a massive hospital in the middle of Merville was effectively kiboshed by a very small group of citizens from Campbell River and Courtenay.... literally never more than a dozen people.
I'd be happy to meet with anyone interested in talking about how to push a discussion of promoting local food production and sales that doesn't include a flood plain mini-supermarket. It would be interesting to ask individual vendors at the market what their feelings are... I know that they haven't been seriously consulted on this yet.
cheers....Wayne Bradley
.. on the other hand:
ReplyDeleteif it were at the old market site on the estuary many people would not be having to drive to it at all ...because they are driving by "it" is simply on their way every day. It is between the two bridges ...all the traffic over those bridges every day has access to the site. It does not need to be so large if it is open everyday. Being open all the time allows for more access over time. It would also allow more producers to sell their products on different days.
I personally do not want to go to the mall to go to a farmers market ... might as well go to superstore. & i truly do not understand this comments like "Find a more sustainable location for the infrastructure potion, what does this mean? isn't this not an oxymoron? The integration of a farmers market by a farm in a superb natural setting is inspiring & has great potential to energies positive & creative advancement of all natural causes (like farming & nature awareness)Lets think in colour not black & white, not i want I don't want. So it is a flood plane .... let it rain. So once in ten or fifty years it floods.. big deal! What if it is a community market & a percentage of whatever is generated goes back into a sustainability fund or something....? this is not a proposal for a post office it is a farmers market... where you take your children where they get to see real people who grow & produce real food & wares, do you know the value that setting will instill in them over their lives? this has great value.
Jonathan
http://www.facebook.com/CV2050?ref=nf#!/profile.php?id=518557580
I would love to join in an in-person discussion about this issue. I agree the non-profits have huge agendas already but need to be included - they all have valuable information/reports and history. Definitely the producers need to be consulted, but we need to go beyond the Farmers' Market members. Anecdotely, many of the local farmers are already selling everything they grow - either from their own farms, through the market or through Brambles and other retail locations; so do we need an enormous development or even a new permanent space at all? I would be much more interested in seeing all those tax dollars funnelling through CVEDS go into supporting existing and new farmers to grow more (VI grows < 7% of what we consume), create value-added enterprises either singly or cooperatively, and help them get their products to existing markets. CVEDS can also help educate consumers to increase local farmers' market share as their production increases.
ReplyDeleteA distribution network is key to the whole discussion as well - asking individual farmers to prepare and transport their product to a weekly market is already placing a burden on many of them. I will admit some bias through my involvement with Brambles (James & Angeline Street) but here are a couple individuals just doing it - working directly with producers to provide an outlet for their products and beginning the process of creating a distribution infrastructure. They pay the farmers what they ask, and take what they have rather than quibbling on pricing or demanding minimum quantities.
Many other entities, including non-profits, for-profits, social enterprises etc. are already struggling to do parts of this work. I believe change would occur much more quickly if CVEDS and CV2050 put time and dollars toward supporting the existing initiatives rather than starting another new thing.
Sue Moen
Hi Sue - thanks for your comments (thx to all of you). Just a note of clarification: CV2050 is a voluntary online initiative to stimulate and support "conversations about sustainability in the Comox Valley." There was a small pot of $ to start the conversation last fall, as part of raising awareness/interaction around the Comox Valley sustainability strategy. Right now it's purely voluntary on all of our parts. Have fun!
ReplyDeleteGreat exchanges and ideas coming forth! Good work everyone. There has to be a better solution than paving several hectares of prime agricultural land for a market. Also why do we need a space for North Island College and an exibition center and offices on farmland? This is CVEDS out of control.....have you heard about their $5 million Tourist Centre planned for the Cumberland exchange on the Trilogy site? So that's about $11 million they have on the books so far. This is a much larger issue than a farm market this is empire building with tax dollars and without public consultation.
ReplyDeletewhere exactlt are you people gleaning your information from???Wallace
ReplyDeleteafter approval eh JOKE
ReplyDeleteI like our farmer's market the way it is. It has a heart and soul, a bit of country with children playing on the grass, some of the young people helping out with the family vendor booths, friends stopping for a visit, people gathered on hay bales, sipping coffee as they listen to great local entertainment, and others visit as they shop, with the friendly people who grow real food. I agree that we shouldn't use ALR lands for paving and concrete and buildings, but on the other hand, if locals don't do this, multi national corporations may, in which case we'd have no say in food production methods, sustainability or environmental protection.
ReplyDeleteTry to see the film documentary ,"Island on the Edge" re Vancouver Island's food production