Jane Emerick
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Members of the Brackendale Farmer's Institute are supporting the district's application for ownership of the Crown land where the Fall Fair is held, because it would protect the area from development.
The Crown land sought is a mainly forested area bordered by Ross Road, Depot Road, Government Road, Don Ross Secondary and Brackendale Elementary.
The Brackendale Fall Fair has been using a four-acre clearing of this land for the past four years, located behind the art gallery on Government Road.
Sutherland said he was aware of development interests in the land located in Brackendale and he believes the Fall Fair merits a location that is consistent year to year.
"I think the Brackendale Fall Fair should have a permanent home and that should be where it is located now," he said.Due to development interests, the Brackendale Farmer's Institute, the organization behind the 11-year old fall fair, has been asking the provincial government to designate the land as park space.
"We have had a petition to the government to give us the land permanently," said Bill Berg, a 10-year member of the Brackendale Farmer's Institute.
Recently the District of Squamish has officially shown their support to have the land protected from future development in an announcement stating the application for the land along with 19 others, has been made to the provincial government.
"We feel it is important to the community it's home to the Brackendale Fall Fair and it's a wonderful location," said Sutherland. "It could be a centre for Squamish going forward and I believe it is best served by being public land."Sutherland said council recognizes the importance of the fair and was working with the province and key stakeholders, to create protected park areas in Squamish.
"We want to do good things for the land and the intension is to work with the Brackendale Farmers Institute. They have proven to be good custodians of the land," he said.
Despite support from the district, Berg is not yet convinced the application will go through, although he believes it is an important one.
"We are running out of park land in Brackendale. It could be our Stanley Park," he said. "But I don't have the feeling it is fait accompli."
Sutherland was unable to say when the decisions would be made concerning park areas in Squamish but said he was confident it would take place prior to the Brackendale Fall Fair, while the transfer of ownership would take place at a later date.
The area in question is believed to be a First Nations land claim, however representatives from the Squamish Nation did not respond for requests for comment prior to the Chief's deadline.
