The report on soil samples that were taken recently at the ‘old course’, have been recieved by Saanich Planning and, as expected the report states that the soil is not suitable for farming. A class 4 soil is reported in most areas where samples were taken, meaning to them, it’s not ‘suitable’for agriculture. A class 4 out of a range up to 7, seems to me, not a bad designation. Would depend on what you expect to have on/in the soil, I would think. It seems though, that only 5 ‘pits’ were dug on the overall 23 acres of land with a surprising 4 of those ‘pits’ being located on the old greens. Anybody who has ever played a round of golf knows that the greens are layered every year with a few inches of sand to make them flat(ish) for putting. Consequently, of course, that particular area would contain a less desirable soil. There are large areas on the land, that at the moment, are showing vigorous growths of meadow grasses. Other areas, although ‘weedy’ ARE growing very large, heathy weeds. All land can be remediated! They state it would take 10 years or more to clear out rocks in some areas....there are such beautiful dry stacked stone walls built all over Great Britain. I wonder if the folks there minded clearing the land, and building those walls, even if it took 20 years or more? I think not, it’s what’s expected when your farming.
ALR land is designated farmland. This is not specific to agriculture as we automatically think of it, soil grown crops. Farmland also incudes orchards, and animals. Plenty of grazing opportunities here for sheep, goats or a small herd of cattle, even ducks & geese. Sheep don’t seem to mind ‘rocky outcroppings’, as seen on the small farm at the corner of Wilkinson and West Saanich. Those sheepon that smallish plot don’t seem concerned with the area they are in, which is noted to be a similar type of land. The new large hay farm located between Watkiss Way and Burnside Road has many rocky outcroppings, but the newly planted hay seems to be growing well on that property. There are many diverse uses this land could sustain. Not all need to be soil bound root vegetables. There is much need for allotment gardens here in Saanich. If you check the Community Garden websites (Google local newspapers for articles on Community gardens), throughout Victoria and the other municipalities, you’ll see 3 to 5 and up to 10 year wait lists for people to get a plot. One acre parcels here would be a wonderful idea. Most would probably be container/raised bed type gardens as seen else where. I can only find 2 Community Orchards located in the Greater Victoria area as well. What a great use for a few acres. http://lifecyclesproject.ca/our-projects/fruit-tree-project/
Small scale farmers are crying for land that they can lease or afford to purchase.
I think it would make a lot of sense for Saanich and the CRD to try and purchase this land back from this group of developers. The land, if rented out as Community/Allotment Gardens, Community Orchards small scale animal husbandry and such, could well pay for itself and perhaps even add to Saanich’s coffers. Partial areas could be left as parkland, areas for dog walking and, the old Clubhouse could be refurbished and used as a Nature House, as at Swan Lake, rented out as a restaurant, child or adult daycare centre, so many uses there too. A parking area is already there for those uses, as well as for people wanting to walk the area, picnic, etc. Most of the course is handicap accessible too, an added bonus for Saanich and the CRD to add to their parklands; I don’t think there are too many handicap accessible parks around. Gardens could be built for use by those requiring wheelchair accessible areas and would be greatly appreciated, I’m sure. Could small areas of gardens and orchards be used as hands on experience for Horticulture courses offered through UVic?
So, this is my rant for today. Do you have other thoughts or ideas for the uses of this land, besides more housing? Leave a comment, or better yet, send an email to Saanich Council telling them what and why. And don't forget to sign the petition.

Support to keep this land from being developed into housing estates will be much appreciated for generations to come.