Montreal unveils consultation report on Grand Parc de l'Ouest
Mafia

Montreal unveils session report on Grand Parc de l’Ouest

By Frank S. Crawford

  1. Local News

“It is becoming more and more important that these places are adapted to the needs of the population and that they occupy more and more space on the territory of the metropolis.”

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Marian Scott • Montreal Gazette This picture shows the waterfront that is part of Cap St-Jacques. The City of Montreal announced the nature park will be linked with several other ecologically sensitive areas in the same sector to create the country's largest urban park. Credit: city of Montreal This picture shows the waterfront that is part of Cap St-Jacques. The City of Montreal announced the nature park will be linked with several other ecologically sensitive areas in the same sector to create the country’s largest urban park. Credit: city of Montreal Photo by Yves Keroack /Courtesy of City of Montreal

A three-month consultation on the Grand Parc de l’Ouest last year resulted in more than 20,000 website visits, 4,000 responses to an online survey and workshops involving 32 organizations, the city reported Wednesday.

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“The ideas put forward as part of the consultation exercise will help inform and guide the planning of this vast green space around a collective vision: one of a nature destination that will strike a balance between biodiversity, recreational tourism, heritage and agriculture,” said Robert Beaudry, the executive committee member responsible for urban development and large parks.

The vast green space, which will eventually cover ​​more than 3,000 hectares on the West Island, will be Canada’s largest municipal park. It will include the Anse-à-l’Orme, Bois-de-L’Île-Bizard, Cap-Saint-Jacques and Rapides-du- Cheval-Blanc nature parks, as well as the Bois-de-la-Roche agricultural park.

Beaudry said the pandemic has demonstrated how important green spaces are to Montrealers.

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“It is becoming more and more important that these places are adapted to the needs of the population and that they occupy more and more space on the territory of the metropolis,” he said.

The park “will be an extraordinary legacy for present and future generations,” he added.

In addition to providing access to nature for city-dwellers and protecting flora and fauna, it will help the city achieve its climate goals, including tree-planting and urban agriculture, Beaudry said.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has pledged $50 million for the nature park.

Conservationists have fought for more than three decades to protect the undeveloped land around the L’Anse à l’Orme River, one of the last remaining unprotected green spaces on the island of Montreal.

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The Montreal Gazette reported last year that a strip of land in the middle of the future park is owned by  a group of people and companies linked to the Montreal Mafia. The city has said it did not intend to expropriate the piece of land, where construction is not permitted because it is in a flood plain.

In 2019, developers behind a proposed 5,500-unit housing project in western Pierrefonds launched a $178 million lawsuit accusing Mayor Valérie Plante and the city of Montreal of “disguised expropriation.”

The consultation report is available in French on the Réalisons Montréal website.

  1. In 2016, Sylvia Oljemark, right, and Jocelyne Leduc Gauvin walk through parts of the newly inaugurated Bois de Saraguay nature park in Ahuntsic.

    Battle for Grand parc de l’ouest has been raging for 30 years


  2. Grand parc de l’Ouest: Environmentalists applaud plans for urban park in West Island

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Frank S. Crawford 1026 posts 0 comments

Mother's maiden name is Wilson, Love to write about Montreal and the life I have here! Amazing city with amazing food! I love to write and so I give time to this website!

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