It isn’t always easy to reconcile this region’s primary industry, agriculture, with the increased emphasis on residential development. That’s why it’s so critically important to have these documents in place and appropriately enforced. It may sound trite, but good planning makes for good neighbours.
All over the county, more and more acreages are popping up and we’ve seen clearly how sometimes the interests of agricultural producers butt up against the interests of non-farming residents.
The controversy surrounding the peat-burning ban that the previous county council proposed — and ultimately passed in a watered-down version — is case in point. The interests of residents-at-large don’t always mesh with those of agricultural producers.
Nonetheless, this is obviously an important industry driving this region’s economy, and acreage residents may in some cases just have to suck it up a bit. You want to live in the country near the farmers, then you’re going to have farmers doing their work in close proximity.
When you’re talking about the town itself, though, it should be a no-brainer. If people have chosen to live within an urban community, even a small one like Westlock, they have a reasonable expectation to be free from things like crop spraying and smoke from burn piles.
And it’s not like there isn’t a plan and some bylaws in place to balance these competing interests. Farmers within town limits can apply for and or typically granted burn permits, and there are typically strict conditions to ensure public safety and comfort.
What became abundantly apparent last week, though, is that the town is either unwilling or unable to enforce those conditions. No “Smoke Ahead” signs were available to comply with one condition. Sufficient tools to put out the fires weren’t on site, a breach of another condition. And neighbours were certainly caused some physical discomfort as a result of the smoke.
What’s most troubling though is that even after the permit was rescinded Nov. 12, the smoke persisted for two more days. The town could have preserved public safety by using its resources — namely the fire department — to put out the smoldering piles for which no permit was in place.
But that didn’t happen, and residents were exposed to significant risk and discomfort as a result.
