Langley Township Mayor Eric Woodward rejected the idea of parking heavy trucks on agricultural land after it was raised last week by provincial opposition leader Kevin Falcon.
The Township announced a crackdown on illicit truck parking sites in rural areas earlier this year, using bylaw enforcement and even taking some property owners to court.
Starting in March, truckers have come to council meetings to both ask for some kind of truck parking expansion, including possibly on farmland, and to speak about the extreme difficulty of finding legal places to park heavy trucks around the Lower Mainland.
“Unfortunate to read in the Langley Advance Times this morning that Kevin Falcon announced that the BC United/BC Liberals would allow industrial gravel-based truck parks on Langley’s farmland anywhere and everywhere, without a word of consultation, apparently,” Woodward wrote in a Facebook post on Tuesday, April 23.
“Our rural areas define the identity of our community,” Woodward continued. “It’s critical that we preserve our agricultural lands for future generations from urban development and ‘gravel lots’ that harm the environment, affect neighbours, and erode our rural character.”
He was responding to comments BC United leader Falcon made last Friday while he was in Langley to attend the Battle of Gapyeong memorial event in Derek Doubleday Arboretum.
Falcon said he would allow truck parking on farmland, at least on a temporary basis, because of the importance of trucking to the B.C. economy.
“I would look at changes to the ALR Act,” Falcon said.
He said smaller gravel parking lots on farmland would make space for truckers to park, and give farmers another income stream, while longer-term solutions are found.
“It’s a transition plan that will help deal with the problem,” said Falcon.
Woodward acknowledged in his response that the “lack of truck parking is a real problem within our region. Truckers need and deserve a solution, but the lack of truck parking is a regional problem that requires a regional solution.”
He said more urban land needs to be set aside for truck parking.
“Offering to make the Township of Langley’s rural areas a truck park for Vancouver, is not the answer, not acceptable,” Woodward wrote.
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