Owls Head - Vision Air

Owls Head becomes ground zero of land protection battle with province

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.”

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A community rallies to save Owls Head

Full Article Here>

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.

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Press Release: Filing of a Lawsuit to Stop the Sale of Owls Head Provincial Park

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.

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Provincial parks legislation needs update on pending protected land: NDP Press Release

January 30th, 2020 Halifax — The NDP Caucus will table legislation this upcoming session to strengthen the Provincial Parks Act to ensure pending protected land cannot be delisted without public consultation. The Wilderness Areas Protection Act already requires public consultation when changing designation of significant areas. “As we’ve seen with Owl’s Read more…

RICHARD BELL: Eastern Shore rallies behind Owls Head parklands

A behind-the-scenes move by the province to sell the land has the community pushing back.

Originally published here 

Richard Bell
January 30, 2020
The Coast

More than 200 people packed into the Ship Harbour Community Centre in the afternoon on Sunday, January 26 in the latest escalation of a land-use dispute over the selling of protected Crown land to a private developer to build three golf courses—a dispute that also jeopardizes the province’s reputation as a safe place to invest.

… The reaction to Gorman’s revelation has been explosive. Opponents formed the Facebook group, Save Little Harbour/Owls Head from Becoming a Golf Course, on December 19, and it had garnered 2,219 members by January 29. The Nova Scotia branch of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) started an online letter-writing campaign calling on Premier McNeil to cancel the sale of Owls Head. That campaign produced more than 1,000 letters in a few days.

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