Farmers' attitudes toward golf course development in British Columbia's agricultural land reserve
Date
1995
Authors
Siddon, Heather Elizabeth
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Abstract
From a simple game first played on open terrain in Scotland, golf has developed into an industry worth billions of dollars involving millions of participants around the world. More than one million hectares of land have been converted to golf courses and, as the popularity of the sport continues to grow, more land will be developed for the pursuit of golf. The prolific development of golf courses and their associated facilities such as club houses, resorts and condominium developments have been linked to several negative environmental impacts, including the destruction of forests, over consumption and contamination of ground water supplies, illness and death of wildlife and humans, loss of farmland and the uprooting of people.
In British Columbia in 1973, concern for the loss of farmland lead to the enactment of the Land Commission Act and the establishment of the Agricultural Land Reserve. Recent changes to the Act led to a dramatic increase in golf course proposals and development in the farmland surrounding urban centres in the province. These changes to the legislation were made after minimum consultation with farm operators. This study investigates farm operators' attitudes towards golf course development. It presents the results of a survey questionnaire conducted in Surrey, located in the Greater Vancouver Regional District and North Saanich and Central Saanich which are located in the Capital Regional District.
The findings indicate that these respondents view golf courses as another type of urban intrusion with similar consequences. They felt that increased traffic, more residential development, higher land values, pressure to sell land and conflicts over water supplies were the most likely to result from golf course development in the A.L.R. Most of the farm operators interviewed support agricultural land protection although many voiced a need for changes to the current legislation. Many of the respondents did not feel that golf courses should be excluded from the Reserve and commented that there is space for golf course development particularly on poorer quality farmland. Many suggest that some form of urban development is inevitable in the face of urban growth.