Housing proposal rejected for Annapolis Valley farmland

An Annapolis Valley farmer who wanted to turnhis farm fields into housing tracts got the thumbs down from Kings County Council Tuesday night.

Council voted down a proposal that would have allowed development of about 16 hectares of prime agricultural land in Weston, near the town of Berwick. Eight councillors voted against the proposal.Two councillors, including Warden Fred Whalen, cast ballots in favour of it.

The $50-million plan would have seen upscale houses built beside the Berwick Heights Golf Club. But developers needed an amendment to municipal zoning rules to allow farming land to be converted to residential use.

Before the vote was held, about a dozen farmers drove tractors up the main street of nearby Kentville to protest the housing development. Some bore signs saying: "Save Our Farmland."

Hundreds of people turned out last week at a four-hour public meeting to denounce the proposal.

At that meeting, Leslie Wade said saving the farmland was about saving the future.

"Saving the farmland is about a future for our grandchildren. It's a valuable resource," she said. "The Weston development is about saving a golf course and destroying a rural community."

The Weston housing project was the first of three proposals by farmers who want permission to sell their land for development because it can offer them more income security.

If council had agreed to change its land use bylaw, Gerry Fulton, a farmer and the original developer of the golf course, planned to build 77 single-family dwellings, 149 semi-detached units or townhouses and two buildings with up to 40 units each.