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Thanks to all of those Sust-Mars that have already
written letters to respective politicians about High
Head; here is an article from Shunpiking Magazine that
sheds more light on the issue.
******
I thought you might be interested in the following article written by a
Prospect resident for Shunpiking magazine. You are welcome to distribute
this article but please cite Shunpiking as a source.
PROSPECT HIGH HEAD ARTICLE FOR SHUNPIKING/DISCOVERY
MAGAZINE
- May 10, 2001
by: Joe Szostak
Prospect High Head
One of the most ecologically important sites in Nova Scotia is up for
grabs. The coastal barren Prospect High Head was in the process of being
designated a conservation area, but the deal fell through and now a key
portion of the land is being sold to a real estate developer instead. The
High Head has been described as Peggy's Cove without the tour buses. It's
an ecologically sensitive area located about 23 kilometres southwest of
Halifax and overlooks the Village of Prospect, a classic Nova Scotia
fishing village. The area is one of only two coastal barrens in the
province and home to the endangered harlequin duck."This area should never
be developed," says Sam Rogers, a member of the Prospect Peninsula
Residents Association, which represents the residents of the peninsula.
"Once it's gone, it's gone forever."
Citizens throughout Halifax Regional Municipality and beyond have been
lobbying hard to stop development on the High Head. "I haven't been able
to get of the phone," says Gary Meade, councillor for St. Margaret's Bay -
Prospect. "I've received more than 250 phone calls and hundreds of e-mails
from as far away as British Columbia. The public outcry has been
overwhelming."
In recent years, the High Head has become a favourite hiking and walking
area for residents throughout Halifax Regional Municipality. An
estimated6000 people a year use the trails. They are drawn by the
spectacular vistas and miles of undisturbed coastline. But the High Head
is a mixture of public and private lands. In May, the province donated its
holdings to the Nature Conservancy of Canada, which procures land for
conservation and public use. It looked like a 15-year effort by local
residents to protect the High Head from development was finally getting
somewhere. But the land deal now threatens to undermine the entire effort.
The 120-acre parcel of land is centrally located on the High Head and runs
down to and along the coast. Alex Hartling, a surveyor living in
Dartmouth, was acting as a middle man for the sale of the land owned by
the Stevens family of Ottawa.
His negotiations with the Nature Conservancy came to an abrupt halt when
Hartling decided to buy the land himself, presumably to flip it to another
buyer. News of the sale set off the public furore. The municipal planning
strategy developed for the Prospect area in the 1980sidentified the High
Head as an ecologically sensitive and endangered area that should be
targeted for preservation. Nova Scotia's minister of Natural Resources
Ernie Fage told CBC news, "This particular area has been designated as one
of the most important areas of the province to protect . .. "At the
moment, however, this seems not to mean much. "All these years of planning
and consultation don't seem to be worth the paper they're printed on, once
money comes into the picture," says Mr. Rogers."This isn't just any piece
of land," says Sue Browne, an environmental planner and Prospect resident.
"It's an ecologically significant area with a variety of landscapes and
habitats-- wetland, coastal forest, coastal barrens, granite, small rocky
beaches. Private development will threaten the ecology and limit public
access.""Because it's a barrens, there's no tree cover," says Gary Meade,
"so any housing will stick out like a sore thumb." And the walking path
that brings people to the barrens is in danger of becoming an access road.
The High Head has been used by the public for as long as anyone can
remember. Many people simply assumed it was always crown land. Councillor
Meade got one call from an 89-year-old grandmother who grew up in
Prospect."She told me the High Head was always regarded as common land,
something like the Commons in Halifax. It was a place where her father and
grandfather and other villagers took their livestock to graze."Of course
the problem of access and conservation of natural places is much bigger
that just Prospect. "Open coastal land is disappearing at an alarming
rate," says John Charles, a planner with HRM and a Prospect resident.
Along the Prospect peninsula, public access to the ocean which was once
plentiful is becoming scarce. Kelly's Point, for instance, just adjacent
to the Village of Prospect, is being developed with monster houses owned
mostly by part-time residents from out of the country. And all of St.
Margaret's Bay is now privately owned, with the only public remaining
being just 2.5 acres at Boutlier's Point."Nova Scotia has no legislation
that protects public access or effectively regulates development along the
coast," says Sue Browne. "With the Department of Fisheries and Oceans
divesting government wharfs in small craft harbours, recreational boating
access is diminishing.
At the same time, development of the coast is decreasing beach and coastal
access."Setting aside areas for public use is crucial for the long term.
"If we do this now, ten years down the road, when Nova Scotia's coastlines
are quite developed, we will still have places for recreational use," says
Ms Browne. Unfortunately, Nova Scotia's budget for land acquisition is
barely $80,000 a year. That's not going to go far. But access is not the
only concern. Changing our coastal ecology is going to impact our
fisheries.
"The pattern of coastal development is changing radically from the past"
says John Charles. "For nearly three centuries, settlements along the
coast have been fishing communities such as Peggy's Cove, West Dover, East
Dover, Prospect and Terrence Bay. These communities developed at the ends
of peninsulas, and were separated from each other by miles of undisturbed
coastline."Now however, says Mr. Charles, coastal development is slowly
spreading along the shorelines of the municipality to the point that
within a few years, our coastal ecology will have been permanently
altered. "How are we going to deal with this? Will we wait for further
losses in the fishery before we act? Or will we start to plan now for the
future that is evolving?"
Back in Prospect, residents have developed their own plan. "We've got to
draw the line somewhere, and this is it," says Sam Rogers. "No development
on the High Head, period." -30-
Readers who want to voice their opinion on this issue
are encouraged to
contact the following politicians:
Councillor Gary Meade
Phone: 902-826-3336
Fax: 902-826-3337
E-mail: meadeg@region.halifax.ns.ca
Bill Estabrooks, MLA
Phone: (902) 424-4134
Fax: 424-0504
E-mail: billestabrooks@navnet.net
Mayor Peter Kelly
Telephone: (902) 490-4010
Fax: (902) 490-4012
E-mail: kellyp@region.halifax.ns.ca
Hon John F. Hammr
Telephone: (902) 424-6600
E-mail: premier@gov.ns.ca
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The preceding message was posted on the Sustainable Maritimes
mailing list (sust-mar). http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/lists/sust-mar
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