The CVRD just voted 5 to 4 to begin the process of repealing the MOCP

Clayton Frost

May 27

2 min read

Updated: May 30

The CVRD just voted 5 to 4 to begin the process of repealing the MOCP. That may sound like boring government paperwork. It is not. This is the planning document behind the future of our rural communities, our farms, our housing, our property rights, our water, our local economy, and the bylaws that shape what people can actually do on their land. And today, after months of growing public pressure, packed meetings, overflow rooms, residents speaking out, and serious concern across the Cowichan Valley, a majority of Electoral Area Directors finally said the current plan has lost public confidence. The final vote was 5 to 4

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THE VOTE - CVRD REPEALING THE MOCP

Voting to repeal the MOCP

Sierra Acton

Mike Wilson

Hilary Abbott

Ian Morrison

Jesse McClinton

Voting against repealing the MOCP

Karen Deck

Allison Nicholson

Ben Martman

Kate Segal

That vote matters. Because this was never just about one document. It was about TRUST! It was about whether local government is listening.

It was about whether our rural communities should be planned with the people who live here, or planned around them. People are not against planning.

They are not against protecting water, farmland, rural character, housing, or the future of the Cowichan Valley. What people are against is a planning process that feels too large, too vague, too expensive, too disconnected from local communities, and too easily turned into bylaws that do not reflect how people actually live on their land.

That was the heart of what I heard today. Farmers spoke about food security. Families spoke about housing. Residents spoke about rural life, local identity, property rights, cost, trust, process, and the need for the CVRD to listen before pushing forward. This does not mean everything changes overnight. It means the Board has now directed staff to start the process of repealing the MOCP and to begin looking at a path back toward a harmonized Official Community Plan based on the former framework.

There is still a lot of work ahead. But today was a turning point. The public showed up. The pressure mattered. The vote moved. And the CVRD was reminded that planning documents are not just paperwork. They affect real people, real farms, real families, real homes, and real communities.

Now the work is to make sure whatever comes next is simpler, clearer, more local, more practical, and built with the people who actually live here.