Office of the Premier
7th Floor, One Government Place
1700 Granville Street
Halifax, NS
B3J 1X5
March 10, 2020
Dear Premier Stephen McNeil:
Owls Head is an ecologically significant area along the Eastern Shore that is deserving of legal protection. It contains a number of rare ecosystem types, as well as important habitat for migratory birds and species-at-risk. It is a key headland within the “100 wild islands” ecosystem.
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Richard Bell
Eastern Shore Cooperator
February 18, 2020
The controversy over Owls Head Provincial Park began on December 18, 2019, when CBC reporter Michael Gorman reported the province had secretly decided on March 13, 2019 to sell Owls Head Provincial Park to a wealthy American who planned to build three golf courses on the site (Lighthouse Links). The decision put in jeopardy hundreds of other parcels of Crown land that the public had previously believed were protected lands that could not be removed from protection without a public hearing.
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If, for 45 years, successive provincial governments and, more importantly, Nova Scotians believe and treat a piece of the province as a provincial park, can the current government negate that 45-year-history, decide the land was never a park, and sell it off for private development?
Stephen McNeil’s government believes the answer to that question is “yes,” and groups determined to protect the land are adamant that it’s “no.”
(more…)Joan Baxter
Morning File
Halifax Examiner
February 4, 2020
On Friday, January 31, the Eastern Shore Forest Watch Association and well-known wildlife and forest biologist Bob Bancroft filed a motion with the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia for an extension of time to file a judicial review of the government’s de-listing of Owls Head from the 2013 Parks and Protected Areas Plan.
Respondents are named as Iain Rankin, Minister of Lands and Forestry, and the Attorney General.
(more…)Michael Gorman
CBC News
Posted: Feb 04, 2020
The fight over a section of Nova Scotia Crown land once slated for protection but now being considered for sale to developers is spilling into court.
(more…)Press Release Announcing the Filing of a Lawsuit to Stop the Sale of Owls Head Provincial Park. Includes profiles of participants and links of resource sources.
Opponents of the provincial government’s decision to sell Owls Head Provincial Park to a wealthy American investor to build 3 golf courses has launched a lawsuit at the end of January in the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia in an effort to stop the sale. The applicants are the Eastern Shore Forest Watch Association (ESFWA) and Robert Bancroft.
(more…)January 28, 2020
Eastern Shore Cooperator
Richard Bell
(more…)More than 200 people turned out on Sunday, January 26 2020 for the public meeting on the fate of Owls Head Provincial Park. The Facebook group Save Little Harbour/Owls Head from Becoming a Golf Course and the Eastern Shore Forest Watch Association sponsored the meeting. The sponsors oppose the sale of these public lands to a private developer planning to build three golf courses. During the Q&A session after the formal presentations, several people did raise questions about the need for jobs on the Eastern Shore, and the potential for the proposed golf courses to boost economic development on the shore.
Richard Bell
Save Little Harbour/Owls Head Nova Scotia from Becoming a Golf Course is a Facebook public discussion group with 900+ members
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(SHIP HARBOUR, NOVA SCOTIA, 15 January 2020) The first community meeting to inform Eastern Shore residents about recent government actions which impact Owl’s Head Provincial Park is scheduled for Sunday 26 January at 2 pm in the Ship Harbour Community Hall. In late December CBC reported that the NS government had secretly de-listed Owl’s Head Park from the province’s Parks and Protected Areas Plan where it has been awaiting final Park designation. There was no public consultation. Our understanding is that sale of the Park to an American developer for golf course(s) is pending.
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