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New owner plans to turn Central Saanich golf site into farm

Instead of following previous controversial moves to use agricultural land as development sites, the new owner of a 10-acre property in Central Saanich is vowing to convert a former driving range into farmland.
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Valerie Lindholm, the new owner of the Island View Golf Centre in Central Saanich, bought the site for $1.45 million and plans to revive it as a farm. The huge nets used to catch stray golf balls will be coming down.

Instead of following previous controversial moves to use agricultural land as development sites, the new owner of a 10-acre property in Central Saanich is vowing to convert a former driving range into farmland.

Valerie Lindholm is rolling out plans to turn the former Island View Golf Centre at 7081 Central Saanich Rd. into a working farm.

“I’m going to grow organic grains — barley and that sort of thing. I love barley,” she said.

Lindholm, a local businesswoman, said there’s no question that the best use for her site is agricultural. She is passionate about the 100-mile diet, food security and supporting local farmers.

“I think it is really important to try to contribute to that land base and grow things that people will be able to nourish themselves with.”

In addition to the Central Saanich land, she is working on a duplex project in Esquimalt, has served on the City of Victoria’s heritage committee and volunteers at historic Point Ellice House.

Major battles have been fought in Central Saanich over plans to redevelop land classified for agricultural use. In one case, Peninsula Co-op dropped plans to build a 30,000-square-foot store on agricultural land it holds on West Saanich Road near Keating Cross Road, opting instead to upgrade its existing supermarket at another Keating location.

Another battle took place when farmer Ian Vantreight won rezoning for a residential subdivision on a rocky knoll in the midst of the family farm. The goal was to create income from housing to keep the farm financially viable. But in the end, Vantreight lost the property after foreclosures.

In Langford, four property owners have applied to remove land from the Agricultural Land Reserve, maintaining their property is not suitable for farming.

Lindholm spent $1.45 million to buy the Central Saanich site in a court-ordered sale that closed Tuesday. The site went up for sale last summer to pay money owed on a mortgage.

The property has site-specific zoning for a golf course. It is within the Agricultural Land Reserve, government records show. Lindholm said she wants the site designated for agricultural use.

The driving range created headaches for neighbours Ken and Wendy Fox as golf balls flew onto their Silver Rill Corn farm. Silver Rill kept its workers out of a portion of its land because of fears they could be injured.

Lindholm said she has promised Wendy Fox “no more driving ranges.”

One of Lindholm’s first jobs is to collect the many golf balls still on the ground.

Once that’s done, earth will be turned over, levelled out and a crop such as alfalfa or potatoes will be planted this year. “Just to give it a year to recover from its use as a golf course.”

Converting the land to agricultural use is a big but worthwhile job, she said. “Please quote me. ‘I think it will be fun, she said naively,’ ” Lindholm said with a laugh.

The first grain planting will be done next year, said Lindholm, who is eager to meet with neighbouring farmers.

Barley could be sold to craft brewers, said Lindholm, who is also planning fruit trees.

Huge nets — visible from the Patricia Bay Highway — that were used to catch stray golf balls will be coming down “pretty well immediately,” she said.

Clay Fox, of Silver Rill, is pleased that the driving range will not reopen and said neighbours will be happy to see the nets dismantled.

Lindholm said that a 52-stall structure that was built for the driving range will have a farm-related use. A house on the property will continue to be rented.

She praised the quality of structures on the site. “The whole place is skookum built.”

It’s possible that a mini-golf course will be reopened, she said.

Farmland is an important resource, Lindholm said.

“We are just custodians. We just own these properties for a blink in the eye of the universe and then we move on. So why not try to create something that is a benefit for people over time?”

cjwilson@timescolonist.com