I am writing in response to a letter in the Penninsula News Review on June 12, 2013.
Perhaps this resident should spend a day at one of the properties affected by the operation at Stanhope Farms located on Old East Saanich road. I think she may feel a little differently. As a resident of Central Saanich, I am absolutely aware of our local farm odours and have totally accepted them as a part of living on the Peninsula.
What has been added to these odours should not be confused with natural farm odours. These smells are both noxious and rancid and the vehicles used to transport this waste are not farm vehicles, they are large dump trucks moving within a farm land area.
While I appreciate and embrace the effort to divert this type of waste from the Hartland Landfill, I would like to point out a more appropriate location could have and should have been found. Perhaps the CRD should have released some of the reclaimed land at Hartland for such an operation. This could have been a public, private partnership in an area where there is not a high concentration of homes and would have had a less negative impact.
I would be interested to know just how much waste will actually be moving through this commercial composting location when all of the municipalities within the CRD are on board.
Not in my back yard. You bet. Is it a farm? Not in my mind. I am hopeful that there can be an amicable solution for the business operation, the surrounding property owners and the environment at large.
Sharon Barker
Central Saanich