Posted: Tuesday, September 29, 2015 12:00 am
“The people of Guilford may not know it, but they own some of the most beautiful land in the county.”
That’s what News & Record’s Susan Ladd wrote last year in the midst of sometimes secret and abrupt decisions about what to do with the magnificent 800 acres of the County Prison Farm (column, “Possible farm buyer a total surprise,” Oct. 22, 2014).
Today, one might want to add, “And they are about to lose some of them.”
This June, 700 of those acres were transferred to Guilford Parks and Recreation, fields rented to local farmers, and walking trails planned. Good so far.
Until investigations of closed meetings reveal that 111 of those acres of high fields and wooded streams may be sold or given to Alamance County for it to give or sell to a European manufacturer.
This sale would knock out the acres where hiking trails are sketched in.
Factory noises and traffic would change the feel of this whole rural and increasing residential area.
All this would be lost to develop a very unlikely industrial site. These 111 acres which lie over in Alamance County are 6.5 miles and eight traffic lights from the Interstate, without water and sewer.
Sites much closer to the Interstate, privately owned, in areas already industrial in character are available.
Before this public land is taken from the people of Guilford, they can contact their county commissioners to ask for some time, some information, and the chance to weigh in.
The writer lives in Elon.
Public Lands for Agricultural & Community Enrichment 