Originally published in the Richmond Review

Shipping more containers to an inland port in B.C. could ease development pressure on Richmond farmland, city council heard Monday.

Civic politicians invited representatives from Ashcroft Terminal to Richmond City Hall to pitch the merits of the inland port nearly 350 kilometres away. Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie said it’s in Richmond’s interest to encourage Ashcroft’s development to stem Port Metro Vancouver expansion.

“We see what’s happening with the port as ultimately encroaching on agricultural land, their insatiable appetite for more industrial land,” said Brodie, adding a new $2-billion bridge is also planned in part to handle truck traffic growth.

Originally published on BC Newsroom.

ASHCROFT - The provincial government has made a commitment to resurface approximately 28 kilometres of highways and roads in the Ashcroft and Cache Creek area in 2015.

The paving project will take place on Highway 97C and Evans Road in Ashcroft, as well as on Highway 1 from south of Cache Creek to the Highway 97 Bonaparte River Bridge, including the arterial highway through Cache Creek.

The highway network in this region links communities and serves tourists, recreation users, residents, commercial traffic and the resource industry.

Originally published in the Delta Optimist.

Delta continued its push to move container port expansion away from the area at last week's Union of B.C. Municipalities conference.

Civic politicians and senior staff were to meet with provincial ministers and Premier Christy Clark armed with the results of an inland port impact study carried out earlier this year.

"I think it forms a very strong foundation for moving forward," Sean McGill, director of human resources and corporate planning, told Delta council last month.

Delta has been supportive of the concept of inland terminals dating back to 2008 when civic politicians endorsed a motion to support the continued development of a terminal in Ashcroft, a small town in the Interior.

Mayor Lois Jackson spearheaded two meetings last year to look at the potential benefits an inland port would have on the Lower Mainland and was also part of a delegation that visited Ashcroft last April.

Delta Council has been supportive of the concept of inland terminals since 2008 when Council endorsed a motion to support the continued development of Ashcroft Terminal. Subsequently, in early 2013, Mayor Jackson spearheaded two multi-stakeholder meetings to look at the potential benefits of inland ports for the lower mainland region - specifically, the potential role Ashcroft Terminal could play in relieving truck traffic congestion and land development pressures from Deltaport and the proposed Roberts Bank Terminal 2.

During the 2013 UBCM annual convention, Mayor Jackson met with several provincial Ministers who expressed interest in exploring this issue further. Some studies on inland ports have already been done; however, they provide a more general assement of the benefits of inland terminals for British Columbia and Canada as a whole. It became apparent, therefore, that a more focused assessment would be required in order to present the benefits of an inland port, such as Ashcroft Terminal, for the Delta and Metro Vancouver area.

Originally published in the Delta Optimist

Port Metro Vancouver (PMV) talks up a good story on sustainability, but they do not walk the talk.

A good example of this is how they are dismissive of the concept of inland terminals being promoted by the mayors of Delta and Ashcroft.

In terms of sustainable development, inland terminals - whereby containers are moved directly by rail to/from an interior terminal for transfer to truck or transshipment - makes good economic and responsible sense.

Inland terminals help to protect valuable agricultural land, increase the productivity of ports, reduce pollution, lessen road traffic and for communities that have to host container ports, they improve the quality of life.