A plan for rapid housing in an ecologically diverse area, teeming with old trees and animal habitats, raises concerns for conservationists who have been fighting for years to protect pristine land west of Halifax.
The government of Nova Scotia announced the Sandy Lake-Sackville area last month as one of nine places where development will accelerate as the province copes with a booming population, soaring real estate prices and limited housing.
But as the province races to build 6,000 private housing units west of the lake near Bedford, a coalition of 27 community groups is trying to expand a small protected park on the east side and push out builders.
“I encourage the public to walk around the west [Sandy Lake]. They will just shake their heads that people would actually build there, “said Walter Regan, president of the Sackville River Association, one of the groups that make up the coalition.
Regan’s group wants to see Sandy Lake Park, a 404-hectare property owned by Halifax County, nearly doubled in size to protect forests, wetlands and animal habitats.
The coalition questions the sustainability of the plan
He said wild Atlantic salmon, continental moose, old trees and others could be at risk if development occurs somewhere in the proposed 728-hectare park, which will cover the land selected for development.
Regan criticized the accelerated process, saying there was no consultation with the community.
“You may be able to speed things up, but will you do it in a sustainable way?” Ten years into the future, we will look back and say, “We didn’t need those 6,000 units. “We had to listen to people who told us that wildlife and endangered plants and animals would be worth saving,” he said.
In addition to concerns about development that is destroying forests and degrading water quality, Regan said he was concerned about increased car traffic in the area and disrupting animal migration.
He estimates that 13,000 people can move to the area, resulting in more than 4,000 cars moving daily on Hammonds Plains Road, an already congested road that stretches west from Bedford to a number of suburban communities.
Environmental studies to be considered: working group
The Sandy Lake-Sackville River site was proposed by the Housing Working Group, a panel of municipal and provincial officials.
The group’s chairman, Jeff McClellan, a former provincial liberal cabinet minister, said environmental research on human resources management in the Sandy Lake area would be taken into account when drawing up a development plan.
Map of the Sandy Lake area. The light green areas are municipal property, the red border is the proposed extension of the park. The Sandy Lake-Sackville River coalition says no development should take place within that red line. (Lack of sand – Sakville river coalition)
“We need to find this balance between protecting critical ecological zones and finding places for development that are needed during the housing crisis. So there is a thin line and it is our duty to make sure that we follow this thin line, “he said.
McClellan defended the accelerated timeline.
“We do not seek to deal harshly with public consultation and the council process, but there are opportunities to streamline some of these processes to get rid of months and sometimes years of the process,” he said.
– This is what we have the task to do.
In February 2021, the Sandy Lake-Sackville River Regional Coalition unsuccessfully appealed to the Environment Committee of the Halifax Regional Council to expand Sandy Lake Park.
count. Tim Autite, whose Bedford-Wentworth district includes the park, said he supported the expansion, but not up to the proposed 728 hectares.
Outhit said developers have to pay 50% of the cost of improving Hammonds Plains Road to cope with the increased traffic.
The municipality recently commissioned Bedford-based McCallum Environmental to conduct an environmental assessment of the area to propose a boundary for the protection of the province and developers. The study continues.
But Regan said any proposed limit outside the 728 acres would be “frivolous” when it comes to conservation.
“We need to have housing with the environment, not housing against the environment,” he said.
In 2018, the Halifax Regional Green Network Plan – a land management strategy and community design – identified three wildlife corridors in the areas around Sandy Lake, meaning the area is important for animal migration and habitat.
The Wrong Way
Karen McCandry of the Center for Environmental Action, a member of the Sandy Lake-Sackville River coalition, said the vision for Sandy Lake Park has always been an extension since it was established in 1971.
“We know there are two possible futures for him: development or expansion. The announcement that it will be accelerated, we definitely think is the wrong way to go, “said McCandry, wildlife coordinator with Halifax.
McCandry said people should visit the park and swim from its beach to understand its importance.
“This is one of our really special lakes, because unlike many other lakes in Halifax and Dartmouth, it’s a deep, clean lake,” she said.
“If you put a house in the upper waters of the lake, you will probably destroy it.”
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