letter

Minister Rankin’s Reply to Sydnee Lynn

Shared to the Save Little Harbour/Owls Head Nova Scotia From Becoming Golf Courses Facebook Group by founder Sydnee Lynn McKay on January 14, 2020. Shared with permission.

Dear Ms. McKay:

I am responding to your letter of January 12, 2020 regarding Crown lands located at Little Harbour, Nova Scotia, also referred to as Owl’s Head. I confirm that the Department of Lands and Forestry (the Department) has entered into a Letter of Offer to potentially sell the Crown lands (LOO). The LOO sets out the terms and conditions between the parties, but it does not approve the potential sale. When the Department receives an application to sell Crown lands, it is reviewed following relevant processes. The transaction under review to sell the Crown lands referred to as Owls Head will undergo the usual due diligence reviews and assessments, including seeking approval by Cabinet before it would be sold.

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By Save Owls Head, ago

Letter: In dark over Park Development

Re: “Golf developer threatens Owls Head park” (Dec. 30 Reader’s Corner). Along with Dusan Soudek, we are shocked, dismayed and incredulous that the status of this park reserve could be changed in such a sneaky and underhanded way! Not only is this action — to remove the proposed 267-hectare parcel from protection to profit — despicable on every level, it flies in the face of actions taken and funded to establish the protection of 100 islands of the Eastern Shore.

Announcements in 2016 by the federal MP, provincial MLA and councillors for the area promoted the saving of these ecosystems, which would include the wetlands and barrens of the shoreline.

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By Save Owls Head, ago

Letter from Tourism Operator Celes Davar

December 31, 2019

Honourable Premier, Ministers and Members of the Nova Scotia legislature,

Re: Recent CBC Article, N.S. won’t protect land with ‘globally rare’ ecosystem that company eyes for golf resort

First of all, Happy New Year to all of you. Wishing you a thriving and fulfilling 2020.

I am a tourism operator in the Gaspereau Valley. I also have had the opportunity (perhaps privilege) of spending considerable time on the Eastern Shore this summer, and have visited multiple times. It is a stunning, wild shoreline. The people living along the Eastern Shore are fiercely in love with their landscape. There are a number of new entrepreneurs emerging doing cool things. The Nova Scotia Nature Trust has a great campaign underway called the 100 Wild Islands Campaign.

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By Save Owls Head, ago
Photo by Stephen Glazier

Letter: Golf developer threatens Owls Head park by Dusan Soudek

I am shocked and dismayed at the possible demise of Eastern Shore’s Owls Head Provincial Park. According to recent media reports, our provincial government decided some time ago to remove this proposed 267-hectare coastal park from the list of properties proposed in 2013 for protection as provincial parks, wilderness areas and nature reserves. The parcel, consisting mainly of rugged barrens and wetlands, is apparently to be sold to a U.S. developer and turned into one or several golf courses.

This decision by cabinet was taken in utmost secrecy following extensive lobbying by a recently defeated provincial cabinet minister, in spite of the fact that the original Our Parks and Protected Areas: A Plan for Nova Scotia, involved extensive consultation with interest groups and members of the public. The provincial park, or, more accurately, the provincial park reserve, contains a number of rare ecosystems and endangered species, besides providing many recreational opportunities and public access to the coast.

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By Save Owls Head, ago