CBT speaks to abattoir petition; community consultation
By Kyra Hoggan
As many as 465 people have signed a petition asking Columbia Basin Trust (CBT) to fund a local abattoir, underlining the need for upcoming community consultations, according to CBT spokesperson Delphi Hoodicoff.
The petition, posted by Slocan resident Jim Ross, is entitled ‘We ask the Columbia Basin Trust to fund an abattoir, processing, storage, distribution and retail system to support local produce farmers, meat farmers and residents of the region who wish to purchase local products but can’t’, and can be found by clicking here.
Hoodicoff said there’s no idea that’s off the table in terms of consideration, but the issue is not black-and-white.
“About four years ago, we supported a business feasibility study for an abattoir in the Slocan Valley, but it didn’t pan out,” she explained. “It was not feasible to move forward.
“It does come down to viability and economics, and that magic hasn’t happened yet,” she said, adding that doesn’t mean it can never happen, and CBT continues to do significant work in the area of agriculture and husbandry.
She said that, along with CBT’s current community consultation schedule, the Rural Development at Selkirk College is trying to regionalize their perspective, looking through existing agricultural plans within the RDCK and RDEK.
“We’re all trying to understand what the needs are and to get a regional picture of the issues in this sector,” she said. “We’re in the information gathering stage right now.”
The Trust has, in fact, already kicked off community engagement consultations with one in Golden in September. So far, nine communities have been involved, and CBT is coming to Trail Nov. 26, Rossland Dec. 1 and Castlegar Dec. 3.
“Because of the potential increased revenue that CBT is expecting, now is a good time to find out community priorities,” she said, adding they’ll be looking, not just at things they can do right now, but also at cataloguing other ideas for the future to ensure they don’t get lost in the shuffle.
For more information about the consultations and how to participate, visit http://www.cbt.org/
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