The rural dream is within reach here.

It’s possible to find a country home, overlooking Okanagan Lake, nestled among orchards or vineyards and within a short drive of charming downtown shops.

For those who have spent their lives in the urban Lower Mainland, fighting rush hour traffic and coping with congestion, the country home in Summerland seems like an ideal place to live.

But the rural dream can quickly become a nightmare.

The nightmare begins on a calm spring day when the escapees from the Lower Mainland are suddenly awakened early to the sounds and smells of their farming neighbour spraying his or her fruit trees.

And it continues throughout the growing season as noises, sprays and odours are part and parcel of farming.

It’s also a nightmare for the farmer who receives an angry call or visit from a non-farm neighbour who does not understand what is involved in keeping an orchard productive.

The Agricultural Land Reserve which was set up to keep development off agricultural land and right-to-farm legislation has been put in place to allow farmers to follow acceptable practices to make a living.

But these things do not help when country estates are already in place among the working farms.

Farms which offers a charming view of fruit trees are also part of an agricultural industry and, like all industries, farming will have its unpleasant elements.

Such a mix is not a good fit for the urban escapees and it’s not a good fit for the farmers either.

It’s the same reason few of us would choose to live among the manufacturing plants in an industrial area. Industry, whether on a farm or at a factory, is best kept separate from residential areas.

Despite this, small pockets of residential development have sprouted among the farms throughout Summerland and throughout the Okanagan over the years.

A recent suggestion to expand Summerland’s urban core makes sense for this reason. A dense, compact urban area, surrounded by farms, will take away from the problems which come when rural residential homes are scattered among the orchards and vineyards.

This plan makes a lot more sense than letting residential pockets continue to spread.

But the dream of an idyllic home in the country continues.

The country home still looks like a picture perfect and blissful setting. Those who dream of such a lifestyle might even expect to meet the gang from Green Acres or a few of the colourful characters from a Norman Rockwell painting just around the corner.

But that’s not the reality.

We can make every effort to create a strong and attractive town core but some people will still come to Summerland seeking a quiet country estate.

And as long as that continues, efforts at building a thriving and vibrant urban area will not do anything to fix the problems which come when pockets of housing development crop up among farms.