Further port expansion will place additional pressure on Delta’s farmlands.

That’s among the concerns an independent committee received from the City of Delta regarding the proposed Terminal 2 expansion at Roberts Bank, and what the committee will likely hear when a public hearing on the controversial project will finally to begin this May in Delta.

In a report, the city notes that there’s already been an incremental loss of almost 1,000 acres (400 hectares) of agricultural land over the last decade.

“The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority has stated that construction of Terminal 2 will require 2,500 acres of well-located developable industrial land by 2035,” the city states, noting this is problematic given the industrial land inventory of Metro Vancouver (currently estimated at 6,000 acres) is expected to be exhausted in a few years.

“Delta estimates that as much as 1,500 acres (600 hectares) of prime agricultural land in Delta is under pressure from port-related development, including 200 hectares of ALR that has been optioned by real estate speculators,” the report notes.

“VFPA acknowledges that, although it is a ‘last resort’ option, it will look at options for industrial uses of agricultural lands to accommodate the land demand from RBT2, if necessary.”