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Their parties — the citizens association and RITE — formed a coalition, based in part on their opposition to mega-homes on agricultural land.
“Voters have had enough of the status quo,” said Michael Wolfe, who ran with Day’s RITE party. “They’ve said our community is to be lived in and farmland is to have food grown on it.”
Their win means the new council will likely be split on the issue, with Greene, Wolfe, Day and Steves on one side and incumbents Chak Au, Alexa Loo, Linda McPhail and Bill McNulty on the other, based on voting histories.
Mayor Malcolm Brodie, who handily won re-election, had voted in favour of lowering maximum house sizes in the past.
Both Greene and Wolfe said the public can expect the issue to be raised in the fall.
“It will be one of the first actions of the new council,” promised Wolfe.
Laura Gillanders of Richmond Farmwatch welcomed the change in council.
“We’re very encouraged,” she said. “Voting to unseat two incumbents and replace them with pro-farmland candidates is a huge victory.”
Gillanders said she’s optimistic that members of the new council would take action and fulfil their election promise.
Public consultation has been completed, and the expert recommendations and provincial guidelines are in place, she noted: “Now it looks like we have a council that has the political will to get this done right away.”
The new council’s first meeting will be Nov. 5.
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