Province won’t step in to stop development in wilderness area: minister
Posted Jul 9, 2010 05:47:43 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The Liberals say the city should not be entertaining development requests in a newly-created wilderness area.
Two developers have asked HRM for permission to build homes on the outlying areas of the Birch Cove-Blue Mountain park, just outside Bayers Lake.
The wilderness area includes Crown land and is supposed to be protected from development for 25 years under an agreement signed by both HRM and the province.
But Nova Scotia’s environment minister says in spite of the agreement, he won’t step in to stop the negotiations.
Sterling Belliveau says the land in question is privately held and it’s the city’s decision to make.
“Basically, for their discussions, it’s for them to discuss and make a decision on,” he said. “That’s their particular lands and they’ll have to decide what decision they want to pursue.”
However, Liberal MLA Diana whalen says the minister has a responsibility and obligation to step in.
“I’m very concerned that they (HRM) seem to be wavering,” she said. “And that’s why the province should step in, because the province could exert their influence and get HRM to stay the course and do the right thing.”
She says the Birch Cove-Blue Mountain Wilderness Area was created after extensive public consultation, and by entertaining development proposals, HRM is breaking its promise to the province and public.
