A Central Park in Halifax? How one area is drawing comparisons, minus the noise | 24CA News
A brand new city park within the rising levels within the Halifax area is drawing comparisons to among the greatest North America has to supply.
Mary Ann McGrath, chair of Friends of the Blue Mountain-Birch Cove Lakes, a gaggle devoted to making sure the formation of the park, stated that the two,304-hectare space has one distinctive benefit that parks like New York City’s Central Park don’t.
“For the most part, I can still hear traffic when I’m in there (Central Park), I don’t hear any traffic when I’m in this place. It’s quiet,” she stated of the park positioned on the outskirts of Halifax.
“And to be able to go to some place quiet so easily from a busy urban centre, if we can keep that, I think we have given people an amazing gift.”
McGrath, who’s been concerned with the venture for about 25 years, stated she finds herself evaluating the venture’s present planning section to related intervals in the course of the growth of Central Park and Vancouver’s iconic Stanley Park.
Her feedback adopted an announcement Tuesday of $ 2.1 million in new funding from Parks Canada, shifting the Blue Mountain-Birch Cove Lakes space one step nearer to changing into Canada’s second nationwide city park.
A launch from Parks Canada stated that after a pre-feasibility report, the positioning has met the preliminary necessities of the nationwide city park course of and is now able to enter the planning section.
“The planning stage represents an important opportunity to further refine and plan key park components, including governance models and park boundaries as well as detailed planning for trails, public access, and infrastructure needs,” a launch stated.
The planning section is led by Parks Canada in collaboration with the Halifax Regional Municipality, the province’s Department of Environment and Climate Change, Nova Scotia Nature Trust, the Mi’kmaq of Nova Scotia, and teams just like the Friends of Blue Mountain-Birch Cove Lakes.
McGrath stated after this “extremely positive” announcement, she doesn’t see how the venture can fail.
“It’s a legacy project that we can’t even measure at this point,” she stated when requested what she thought the park would deliver to the town of Halifax.
“It’s five or six-thousand acres of untouched land that’s surrounded by urban development … that’s just a gift that almost nobody gets in a municipal setting,” she stated.
“You start at the Hammonds Plains end and it’s a lot of trees, more rolling hills, you get down to the Halifax end, behind Kent and Kearney Lake, and you have rock barrens, you basically have Peggy’s Cove with a few more trees.”
The report that was offered to the Halifax Regional Municipality on Tuesday included a diagram showcasing the items of land already owned and bought by varied events. The dotted line signifies the perimeter of the park space.
The planning interval is predicted to take a couple of yr to finish.
According to a graphic included in a report submitted to Halifax Regional Council on Tuesday, the anticipated outcomes of the planning section will embody a printed abstract highlighting public engagement, a proposed price range and a signed settlement showcasing Parks Canada’s dedication to shifting ahead.
The following step would come with finalizing the proposal and securing funding with the intention to proceed with the remaining “implementation” stage, the place the required growth would start.
When requested what she thinks it’ll take to get to that final section, McGrath supplied 5 details.
“A good report on ecology that shows where the access points (to the park) ought to be, acquisition of the necessary land, a good trails plan to lead people safely in, some amenities, and a resolution to Annapolis, a good one,” she stated, referring to an ongoing authorized dispute between Annapolis Group and the municipality over among the Birch Cove Lakes space.
In October 2022 after claims had been dismissed and overturned, the Supreme Court of Canada stated a trial may proceed to find out whether or not Halifax Regional Municipality improperly used its regulatory powers to successfully seize land from Annapolis Group Inc. to be used as a public park with out compensation.
“The lawsuit is a big problem and worries us continually because as a park, this land needs those lakes, they are the Birch Cove Lakes of the Blue Mountains-Birch Cove Lakes,” she stated.
“They’re the most accessible to the city, they’re the closest … ideally there wouldn’t be any (developments), but somebody’s got to pay an awful lot of money for that to happen.”
McGrath famous that she isn’t saying there can’t be any growth, simply the event must be “extremely carefully considered,” because of the significance of sustaining accessibility to the Birch Cove Lakes through the park.
Another difficulty is buying all of the remaining land to map out the park’s route.
“There is land that we know should be acquired … will people sell it? Will HRM agree to the price they want to sell it for? Hard to say,” she stated.
She stated to this point, the municipality has acquired about 4 “buffer lands” across the edges of the parks to behave as potential entry factors. She stated two are adjoining to public streets whereas the others are within the woods.
According to the discharge from Parks Canada, the park space is presently dwelling to 23 at-risk species and 61 species of “conservation concern.” It additionally mentions that the Blue Mountain-Birch Cove Lakes space is already a well-liked vacation spot for swimming, mountaineering, tenting and cross-country snowboarding.
In a press release made on Tuesday, Halifax mayor Mike Savage famous the significance of this venture coming into into its subsequent steps.
“As our municipality continues to grow, it is more important than ever to preserve access to pristine wilderness and protect natural habitats,” he stated.
“This welcome federal investment toward a Blue Mountain-Birch Cove Lakes national urban park will help ensure it remains a nature refuge for generations to come.”
If every little thing goes in response to plan, the Blue Mountain-Birch Cove Lakes venture can be solely the second of its variety in Canada, following Toronto’s Rogue National Urban Park.
– with information from The Canadian Press
