Stop the sale of this public coastal ecosystem to private interests
Richard Bell
Eastern Shore Cooperator
Published online on December 1, 2020
View on the Eastern Shore Cooperator’s website
In the latest round in the fight to stop the province from turning Owls Head Provincial Park into an American billionaire’s three private golf courses and acres of luxury housing, the Department of Lands and Forestry (L&F) released another round of documents with dramatic new information.
Richard Bell
The Eastern Shore Cooperator
October 15, 2020
Read the full article here>
Opponents of the secret sale last year of Owls Head Provincial Park by the Department of Lands and Forestry took advantage of the upcoming election to ask every candidate for HRM Council, “If the matter is before Council, would you support upholding the Regional Park designation, in order to protect Owls Head Provincial Park Reserve?”
Continue reading “Most HRM Council Candidates Want to Save Owls Head Provincial Park”
Richard Bell
Eastern Shore Cooperator
August 23, 2020
Opponents of the proposed sale of Owls Head Provincial Park to an American billionaire took the next legal step forward on August 18 with the filing of an amended version of their January request for a judicial review. A hearing to set a date for the full judicial review will take place on September 23, although the trial itself will probably not take place until 2021.
The amended petition challenges two different secret decisions by Lands and Forestry Minister Iain Rankin: the decision to de-list the park on March 13, 2019 and the decision to entertain a Letter of Offer with the golf course developer on December 19, 2019.
Continue reading “Owls Head Sale Opponents Back in Court”
Richard Bell
Eastern Shore Cooperator
August 6, 2020
… Supreme Court Justice Kevin Coady heard arguments from the applicants’ attorney Jamie Simpson and from Lands and Forestry attorney Jack Townsend on June 29 and issued his opinion today in favour of the applicants.
Continue reading ““The Public Had Every Reason””
Richard Bell
Eastern Shore Cooperator
July 13, 2020
At a hearing before Supreme Court Judge Kevin Coady on June 29, opponents of the province’s plan to destroy Owls Head Provincial Park learned that the fate of the 600-plus acres of coastal land may hinge on the narrowest of legal points
On December 18, 2019, CBC’s Michael Gorman wrote that through a Freedom of Information request, he had learned that the Cabinet, acting on a request from the Department of Lands and Forestry, had delisted Owls Head Provincial Park on March 13, 2019, but had hidden the decision from the public.
Continue reading “Owls Head Dancing on the Head of a Pin”
Eastern Shore Cooperator
Posted on March 12, 2020
By Richard Bell
In a show of province-wide opposition to the government’s controversial decision to sell Owls Head Provincial Park, 23 groups submitted a joint letter to Premier McNeil on Tuesday, March 10 calling on the government to do three things: