The Cochrane Environmental Action Committee (CEAC) is asking anyone interested in municipal aggregate extraction processes to ‘save the date’ to take part in an upcoming workshop at the end of the month.
The May 25 event, ‘Aggregate, Landscapes and Watersheds: Aggregate Exploration and Extraction Policy Workshop’, will run from 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Cochrane RancheHouse.
Registration is $50 and can be done online at ceacaggregateworkshopmay25th.eventbrite.com.
“It’s been a long time coming, as we have been approached by several groups over the last five years to put something together,” said CEAC member Judy Stewart.
Stewart explained that the intent of the event is to bring stakeholders together who are impacted by aggregate extraction operations — including industry, municipalities (Rocky View County) and landowners — to begin a dialogue that would eventually be used to inform municipal policy.
Under the Rocky View County Plan, high-level policies exist on aggregate extraction; the next step is to use these high-level policies, combined with public consultation, to inform a land-use bylaw that would operate as an overarching guideline for aggregate extraction applicants throughout the county.
CEAC operates as an impartial party, seeking to bring all parties together and to address major concerns and promote understanding and education.
Dana Strasser is a Bottrel landowner who, along with husband Andy, operates a small natural beef production in the rural community.
The couple has been very active in putting together the ‘Concerned Citizens of Bottrel/Water Valley Group’ response to the controversial application made last December by Standing Stone Gravel Ltd. to open a commercial gravel pit operation in the heart of the community.
“The county has voted to develop a comprehensive plan by next year, and this is one of the few opportunities citizens will have to influence that plan,” said Dana, who will be attending the workshop, along with several other members of the group.
“It will be a good forum to listen to concerns on all sides — neighbours, municipality, businesses, environmental groups — and come up with a framework for what will work best for everyone. We all know we need gravel from somewhere, but there has to be a better way than what we have now, and the County is acknowledging that by taking part.”
Stewart stressed that this is a sensitive subject when it comes to rural landowners, where achieving balance has proven to be difficult.
“It’s an issue of scale,” she said, adding that mistrust and bad relationships have been the result of poor communication between municipalities, industry partners and rural residents.
To learn more, visit cochrane-environment.org.
