Sarah Wallbank
Dearest Nicole and Dirk,
I'm not sure what to do beyond offer you my empathy and an ear. I am sure you must be incredibly frustrated and tired of all the shenanigans.
You are doing good work. You have much support in the community. Please keep on fighting the good fight.
Yours in solidarity,
Sarah
I'm not sure what to do beyond offer you my empathy and an ear. I am sure you must be incredibly frustrated and tired of all the shenanigans.
You are doing good work. You have much support in the community. Please keep on fighting the good fight.
Yours in solidarity,
Sarah
Nicole ShawTonight, our angry neighbour and his wife - Jim and Valleen Brash also of Lakeshore Campground &Cottage in Port Alberni / Canada paced the property line looking at two loads of soil (with a small amount of manure mixed in) which another Lantzvillager had given us for planting our fruit trees. Valleen took photos. Then Councillor Warren Griffey and his wife arrived at the Brash's and took photos at the property line. I walked over and asked Warren what was up. He said, “Just seeing what’s going on, taking some photos.” I then asked him why he has never come by for a tour. He replied that he had talked to Dirk about a month ago (Dirk had stopped him on the road as Warren was driving by our house). I said I remembered that and again asked why he hadn’t come for a tour to see what it is we actually do. He said he had a very good idea of what we do. I asked him to explain (because I’m curious if he really does understand). He quickly shook his head with his shoulders raised and exclaimed, “Agriculture! I’m not going to say it isn’t because it is!” This was such an off-the-wall response so I asked him what that meant and he said, “I’m not going to play games,” and he abruptly turned around and walked back to the other side of Brash’s hedge... (much more ensued after this incident, but the point of sharing this is...) THIS is an example of what we have on Lantzville's Council. WTF?? A severe inability to have a conversation. The Brash's have now had Mayor Haime (3 - 4 times), Parkhurst and Griffey to their house. In all these months, Rod Negrave is the only councilor who has come by our place (and he is the only one who understands food security and local food movement). It amazes me how much attention and energy the angry neighbour is able to garner from council.
2 hours ago · · ·
Ed Anderson That's nuthing short of Harrassment. Why dont ya start takin pics of his property and invite friends over to gawk and give em somethin to look at? lol geeze some people have nuthin better to do than to cause trouble for good people
about an hour ago ·
Tara Hannaford Qua Nicole, I can't imagine how frustrating this must be for you. These people are so immature and obviously lack people skills. However, when people avoid you like that... I'm beginning to think that there is much more to this. Maybe your angry neighbour has some leverage on the council member(s) and is using that to get their way. And that's a whole other "can of worms" as they say. None of this makes any sense to me. It is unprofessional behaviour of council members and Lantzville needs to vote them out.
about an hour ago ·
Lo Atkinson Ridiculous.hoping things could move from antagonist to solution focused discussions.
52 minutes ago ·
Although I totally agree with Sarah in her post above, it appears the time has come for Nicole, Dirk and their friends to get on with their spring planting. Otherwise you'll loose the ability to sustain yourselves. That is what you have chosen to do and I personally believe that you should be allowed to do so without this continual harassment from one next door neighbour NIMBY.Please check out your "Bundle of Rights" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bundle_of_rights and "Zoning" at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoning. You should have quiet possession of your land without the continual harassment and trespass by neighbours, Council and their employees. Now I'm sure you two simply wanted to provide for some way to pay your obligations to the Regional District of Nanaimo, Province of British Columbia and Canada.I have had an experience of the same when I first bought property in Provincial Territory just outside of Langford in 1978. Later we had to turf the first mayor of Langford, Jim London out on his ear because he wanted to place unreasonable demands on OUR lands. Wanted me to subdivide my property giving the STRATA COUNCIL fee simple ownership of the septic fields. We were able to replace him with Stu Young, owner of Alpine Disposal, who has been a very effective mayor of Langford ever since. I've already discussed elsewhere my experience with Gillian Trumper and the "Demolition Council" in Port Alberni in 1995-96.
Apparently your vision for your land doesn't fit with that of your "influential " neighbours. Their vision for their land is obviously a "private estate" with the smell of weed-n-feed on the air.. So YOU don't fit their vision and they have declared WAR on you, You URBAN FARMER upstarts! If it wasn't so serious, I would have to say it laughable, kinda like the BBC's Good Life sitcom. http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/goodlife/ and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlnkxzjFGCwOkay, you need some peace and quiet? So did I on my initial 4 acres, so I went out and got a whole bunch of BEWARE OF DOG, NO TRESPASSING and NO DUMPING signs that I stapled to cedar siding cut to sign length for backings. I installed a 600' driveway, septic field, had a well drilled, cleared a place to park our 8' x 38' old trailer and one evening was cutting some trees for firewood. I was amazed to see a high fashion couple coming up the dusty gravel driveway. He was actually dressed in a black tux, she in an evening gown with high heels. They were sipping on Martini's. When I inquired what they wanted I was told they wanted to contact the owner as they were interested in buying a building lot! They were incredulous when told they were talking to the owner and that I had no interest in subdividing. I asked if they had seen the signs, they said they had but thought given their "mission" to buy a building lot, would be forgiven. I inquired if they had heard the chainsaw? They said they had and I explained that was why I put up the signs, I was afraid someone might "wander in" and get hurt! You need to put up some signs warning those "neighbours" to keep off your property.Good you're planting some trees along that property line, suggest you might also want to grow some Himilayan Blackberries along that border to also discourage unwelcome trespassers from next door. They are like barb wire, grow like a weed, but also make good wine! Having established a Good Neighbour fence that screens those next door neighbours from your view should give you some peace of mind.
This is not a fight you wanted, nor should you have to fight these nimby's, but what is, is. Are you being treated fairly? Are there others in Lantzville who are breaking their ridiculous bylaws? I like that quotation about pre WWI I Germany in Synergy. For now don't encourage these officious persons to visit, unless they have a search warrant they better keep off your POSTED property. Well, I don't go looking for trouble, but if someone wants to start a ridiculous one, I love a good fight, I'm thinking about checking into Lantzville's bylaws, District of Nanaimo, etc. How much of this has already been done, and is your MLA and MP on side? Thanks for keeping us informed.
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