Owls Head Provincial Park has been a candidate for legal protection since the 1970s. It was a key component of the Eastern Shore Seaside Park System, Our Parks and Protected Areas Plan, and more. Let’s take a look at the park’s history and the extraordinary campaign to save it.
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Bob Rosborough’s Feb. 20 opinion piece failed to address the key concerns about Owls Head Provincial Park. The question has never been whether or not golf courses should be developed on the Eastern Shore. There is no lack of private land on the Eastern Shore that would be as suitable, if not more, for such developments.
Any politicians or private interests who frame the situation as “golf vs. conservation” or “economy vs. environment” are not only misrepresenting the situation but also doing a disservice to Nova Scotians.
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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.
Update: The judicial review has been fully funded thanks to concerned citizens like you. Thank you!
(more…)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.
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Michael Gorman
CBC News
August 18, 2020
Armed with a favourable court ruling, a retired biologist and environmental group will seek a judicial review of the Nova Scotia government’s decision to remove 285 hectares of Crown land from the pending protected status list.
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Robert Bancroft and Eastern Shore Forest Watch Association (Applicants)
v.
Nova Scotia Minister of Lands and Forestry and
The Attorney General of Nova Scotia representing
Her Majesty the Queen In Right of the Province of Nova Scotia (Respondents)
“While Owls Head is making headlines as Nova Scotia’s ‘newest’ provincial park, it’s actually a park 47 years in the making,” said Lindsay Lee, Secretary of Eastern Shore Forest Watch Association. “After nearly five decades of public consultations, government plans and scientific studies, Owls Head Provincial Park is finally getting the legal protection it needs and deserves.”
To understand just how significant that is, it’s important to understand where we started.
(more…)“The evidence on this Motion clearly establishes that Owl’s Head was portrayed to the public as a Provincial Park. Government documentation and maps, going back as far as 1978, refer to the area as “Owl’s Head Provincial Park”. Further, it was managed by Lands and Forestry to maintain its reserve status. The public had every reason to assume Owl’s Head was a Provincial Park and, therefore, attracted protections not available on Crown lands.”
NS Supreme Court Justice Kevin Coady, Interlocutory Decision, Page 3 (Emphasis is Ours)