Councils have agreed to write a letter of support for the coalition, requesting a delay on the sale of the land until the possibility of public ownership is thoroughly explored.
The decision by both councils was unanimous and came following presentations last week by coalition members Nora Robichaud and Kristanne Chandler of Clare.
They said the coalition came together quickly once J.D. Irving’s plan to offer 70,000 acres of Nova Scotia land for sale was made public a few weeks ago.
The property consists of three large parcels in Digby, Annapolis, and Yarmouth counties and includes critical wildlife habitats, including old growth forests, rare plant sites, habitat for trout, bobcat and the endangered mainland moose.
Chandler said groups of people who are not normally ‘on the same page’ in forest issues—including hikers, ATV owners, paddlers, snowmobilers and scientists—are working together to create a plan to purchase the property, or critical sections of it.
“The really alarming thing is that the real estate company that Irving has contracted—Landvest—is promoting the absence of restrictions on the property. Their brochure describes ‘vast frontages of undeveloped freshwater lakes and streams, offered free of any restrictive encumbrances’ and ‘lakes completely imbedded in the ownership … free of any conservation restriction or wood supply commitments’.”
Chandler said the coalition is at long-term possibilities for the land.
“There’s sustainable forestry. There are woodlots that could be sold back to individuals. There’s a movement afoot to put New France forward as a UNESCO site,” she said.
Chandler said most believe the property can be bought for $40 to $50 million.
Buy Back Nova Scotia says at least one offer has been made on the Irving-owned property.
Councils backing Buy Back Nova Scotia
- Published on April 14, 2009
- Published on January 31, 2010
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Jeanne Whitehead/Digby
The Town and Municipality of Digby have added their support to the Buy Back Nova Scotia coalition.
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Comments
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- R Sabean
- - June 13, 2011 at 09:28:26
Hey where are the $40 lots (that I would like to see.)40 years ago you could buy an acre for $100 or less if you bought 100 acres or so. I paid 8500.00 for my lillte house lot that is shaped so weirdly that I'm not sure how big it is. My lot is 24 years old. as far as I'm concerned with it. Where do these people get the figures $50,000,000 They are ridicuolous. Canada the whole country could have been bought for less when it started out. Of course they actually had that much gold worth what Canada was valued at. Today government just prints out the money they want and then try to earn money through taxes to cover it. The whole world has gone utterly mad. We need structure not this crazy money mad world that have no concept of its actual value so why bother using it any way. We mainly use plastic for everything today any way so why no just take it right out of the world and burn it all. When some earn a half million a year or more and they only need 20,000.00 to live the rest is unecessary . If you put it in a banking institution then they use it to creat vast wealth for a few upperclass men and then. the rest get normal wages out of it. You could keep writing for the rest of your life about all the inequities in government and the like but you would be throwing your hands in the air with dicust at their lack of common sense any way so why bother. .
