Environmentalists and community members are speaking out against a proposed development near Sandy Lake.
It would create 8,000 residential units to create a neighbourhood about the size of Bridgewater, according to StatsCan data.
Karen McKendry with the Ecology Action Centre says Halifax needs housing but not here.
“It’s a development that we should plan very carefully and not try to rush it and get it all done in less than two years,” said McKendry.
The province has taken over approval of the development in the area by putting it on their Special Planning Area list, the goal of which is to speed up development to get housing faster.
The development is proposed for a key area, says McKendry. The streams in that land flow out to the lake, and if the streams are polluted by nearby parking lots or roads, the lake would also be polluted, hurting the fish population.
“So sometimes you’ll get more blue-green algae blooms and you can’t swim in it in the summer, or the water chemistry will change at the bottom of the lake, which is where the trout and salmon try to hang out in the summer.”
And McKendry says clearing forests and wetlands is also the most expensive place to build, because the area does not already have infrastructure, like sewer, water, and power services, and because the land has to be cleared of trees. She says the province should focus on areas that already have infrastructure nearby.
Sandy Lake is also close to the Sackville River, and changes nearby could increase the flood risk for properties near the Sackville River.
“If the province wanted to demonstrate good city planning now that they’re in on the game, take it off the Special Planning Area list and take the time to plan it well, instead of rushing each step and ending up with a really problematic subdivision that everybody has to live with forever.”
