Alberta to change land-use bill

The Alberta government introduced amendments aimed at satisfyingcritics of its controversial land-use bill Tuesday.

Some landownersargue the bill takes away their property rights if the province decides to build roads or power lines across their land.

The Alberta Land Stewardship Amendment Act, known as Bill 10, will create a review process for landowners affected by a regional plan.

The act will include public consultation as part of the planning process and require the legislature to see all draft regional plans prior to approval.

Lawyer Keith Wilson met withSustainable Resource MinisterMel KnightMonday.

"These concerns about the Land Stewardship Act and how far the powers go are real and I took him into some specific sections to show him that the legal wording really does have this effect," he said.

"These concerns aren't made up," Wilson said."They're real."

Knight called the concerns a misinterpretation of the bill, but conceded thelaw could have been written better.

"I believe that we've addressed to a large part the concerns that people have," he said.