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Now vs Then

Every property that made it onto the list of Parks and Protected Areas Plan had a reason to be there. Each had a history. Owl’s Head Provincial Park was property #694 until an arrogant, duplicitous Minister and Cabinet removed it. Now the government is trying to erase Owls Head from the public record. The initial CBC article by Michael Gorman, published on December 18, points to a backroom deal fabricated by lobbyists and political dinosaurs who think that anything is for sale. A secret deal, a Letter of Offer to sell 661 acres of public coastal land to a private developer. At this time, two Ministers have made misleading public statements in attempts to cover the smell of a deal that would not stand the light of public scrutiny or professional review.

Pristine coastal barrens, rare plants, endangered species, water frontage on 5 coves and a lake, sand beaches, ideal coves and inlets for coastal kayaking, did I mention publicly owned? (more…)

By Christopher Trider, ago

LISA ROBERTS: Owl’s Head – or whose list of protected areas will prevail?

MLA Lisa Roberts of the NDP speaks out about the delisting of Owls Head Provincial Park. Originally published on her site on January 16. republished with permission.

I am reluctantly re-emerging from a prolonged holiday break from social media. I know I’m not alone… January is now hitting with force and fury and a full calendar. 

I’m past due to comment on the Owl’s Head story that began emerging on Dec. 18.  That afternoon, I was on my way to a true pre-Christmas break – in a small off-grid cabin at Windhorse Farm – when I heard on CBC radio that the Nova Scotia Liberal cabinet had quietly removed Owl’s Head Provincial Park – as it’s been known since the 1980s – from a list of crown land parcels waiting permanent designation and protection as protected areas. (more…)

By Save Owls Head, ago

NDP’s Gary Burrill on Owls Head

Full Article Here>

Posted by Richard Bell
January 15, 2020, 11:50 AM
Eastern Shore Cooperator

Gary Burrill, head of the Nova Scotia New Democratic Party, told the Cooperator in a phone interview that the NDP intended to challenge the province’s decision to delist Owls Head Provincial Park and sell the land to a golf-course developer, particularly the use of secrecy.

Burrill also dismissed the province’s defense that the land had never actually been protected. “The public in general had a reasonable understanding that these were lands held by province in some kind of special category,” Burrilll said. “ Rankin decided to make a change, from whatever category the land was really in, a change he made without the kind of consultation, of discussion, of sharing information, that a decision of this magnitude always calls for.”

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By Save Owls Head, ago

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

MLA Kevin Murphy on Delisting Owls Head

Full Article Here>

Posted by Richard Bell
January 14, 2020, 3:36 PM
Eastern Shore Cooperator

In a January 3 2020 email to the Cooperator, MLA Kevin Murphy said that he first heard about the golf courses about two years, and that he had had two phone calls from the golf course lobbyist, Michael Samson. He wrote that he had not talked about the project with any other lobbyists, nor had he discussed the project with anyone from the Owls Head community (within 50 miles of Owls Head.)

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By Save Owls Head, ago

Owls Head Delisting Threatens Crown Lands Across Province

Full Article Here>

Posted by Richard Bell 
January 14, 2020 3:25 PM
Eastern Shore Cooperator

The revelation that the province’s Department of Lands and Forests has been secretly planning to sell Crown land on Owls Head to a wealthy American couple who own Lighthouse Links Development Company to build as many as three golf courses has stunned Nova Scotians.

For more than four decades, members of the public had every reason to assume that Owls Head would eventually become a fully protected provincial park. As late as the week of January 6th, a Department of the Environment online map of protected areas showed the area as “Owls Head Provincial Park” as late as January.

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By Save Owls Head, ago