Halifax greenbelt consultation during upcoming public meetings

Maps of proposed greenbelts for the Halifax area will be revealed at a series of eight public engagement sessions to be held this week and next week around the municipality.

• Halifax-Dartmouth Centre Plan draft expected by December 2016

The meetings for the Halifax Green Network Plan, organized by the municipality, will look for feedback on what areas should be protected from development.

"We're really excited to see the public come out and support for the things that make Halifax a wonderful region to live in and that's our lakes, our coasts, our beaches, our forests," said Tristan Cleveland, coordinator with Our HRM Alliance at the Ecology Action Centre.

'Sprawl costs us all'

"Since 1992 Halifax has consumed as much land as we did in our first 250 years in existence where we've been sprawling at a crazy rate. Sprawl costs us all. It's irresponsible to taxpayers if we can't get that growth under control," he said.

Cleveland said more growth needs to be directed to where people live now.

"Otherwise we just simply can't afford things like new stadiums and new great parks and new great playgrounds. We can't have those things if we keep spreading the city out as quickly as we have been," he said.

"This is an opportunity to take all that natural space that really makes our quality of life possible in Halifax and make sure that we keep it."

Paul MacKinnon, executive director of the Downtown Halifax Business Commission, said the plan has been a long time coming. He said greenbelts were one of the "big topics of conversation" during the last mayoral election four years ago.

"Here we are coming to our next election and it's finally moving forward," he said.

Marketing green areas

MacKinnon said green areas make for better and more marketable communities.

"One of the great elements of quality of life is that in Halifax we have a city of a decent size where you can be in a real urban context on Barrington Street and 15 minutes later, you can actually be in a wilderness area," he said.

Cleveland hopes regional council will vote on the Halifax Green Network Plan before the next municipal election.

"Residents want to see more than just vague recommendations," Cleveland said.

"They want to see a plan with teeth, with firm recommendations for what's going to happen and when it's going to happen by so that they know that everything they care about isn't going to be undermined by development."

Session schedule

Green Network Plan sessions are planned for the following days:

• Fall River-Sackville: March 30 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Gordon R. Snow Community Centre.
• Halifax Peninsula: March 31 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Atlantica Hotel.
• Tantallon-St. Margaret's Bay: April 1 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Estabrooks Community Hall.
• Prospect area: April 2 from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Prospect Road Community Centre.
• Cole Harbour-Dartmouth: April 4 from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Auburn Drive High School.
• Musquodoboit Valley: April 5 from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Musquodoboit Valley Bicentennial Theatre and Cultural Centre.
• Sheet Harbour: Co-hosted with the Sheet Harbour and Area Chamber of Commerce on April 6 from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Lion's Centre.
• Musquodoboit Harbour: April 7 from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Eastern Shore District High School.