Mike Harcourt on Creating a More Sustainable Tsawwassen

Watch the video: http://vimeo.com/southlands

"I didn’t hear from [Sean Hodgins] for a few years. Then, he came back and showed me that he was “Super Elite” on Air Canada, from all the trips he took to look at the best practices in agriculture, the best practices in urban development. He went all over the world.

He brought all the ideas back and he put them into a concept that you now see, called Southlands, which is going to deed over 200 acres of agricultural land to the municipality; provide a forested area—you know that lovely little forested area in the (sic) south-east part of the site, to remain as it is-- and then invite Kwantlen to bring a cutting-edge in the world research and teaching facility to teach the new kind of urban agriculture we need to have security of food supply, to have organic and healthy food so that we don’t have obese kids—and to fit it into your city and to build a farmers’ market. Then to have some housing on a third of the site.

I was really quite delighted that Sean had put that commitment, his own money, his own time and his own thought into it and genuinely wanted to bring something back for the community to have a look at.

So, I think Sean, you have fulfilled your commitment that you made to me seven years ago."