Municipal Land Was Available for Anyone to Buy??
Letter writer Buzz Smith, together with some former Councillors and at least two current Councillors, claim that the 300 acres of Municipal Land in North Prairie Valley was available to anyone to buy but only the Summerland Hills group came forward with a bid.
That is a distortion of the facts.
This parcel of land has never been advertised for sale. There was no proposal call, there was no advertising campaign requesting expressions of interest. What happened, we can only assume, was that one development group with local knowledge appoached Staff and the last Council with a proposal, and it took off from there.
How could developers without local connections have known that the property was available for sale?
When the proposed sale of the land to the Summerland Hills group became public knowledge (and before the land was taken out of the ALR) a local consortium with impeccable agricultural expertise and considerable financial backing made a proposal to purchase the land and use it for a vineyard, winery and agro-tourism project. They were told they were too late.
The crux of the matter is that this extremely valuable piece of real estate belongs to the people of Summerland, and if Council insists on selling it then at least it should be sold for the highest price possible. The normal way to get that highest price is to advertise extensively and solicit bids from every possible source, as any novice realtor knows.
That is a distortion of the facts.
This parcel of land has never been advertised for sale. There was no proposal call, there was no advertising campaign requesting expressions of interest. What happened, we can only assume, was that one development group with local knowledge appoached Staff and the last Council with a proposal, and it took off from there.
How could developers without local connections have known that the property was available for sale?
When the proposed sale of the land to the Summerland Hills group became public knowledge (and before the land was taken out of the ALR) a local consortium with impeccable agricultural expertise and considerable financial backing made a proposal to purchase the land and use it for a vineyard, winery and agro-tourism project. They were told they were too late.
The crux of the matter is that this extremely valuable piece of real estate belongs to the people of Summerland, and if Council insists on selling it then at least it should be sold for the highest price possible. The normal way to get that highest price is to advertise extensively and solicit bids from every possible source, as any novice realtor knows.
posted by tony cooke |
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