{"id":7020,"date":"2021-11-10T10:01:33","date_gmt":"2021-11-10T10:01:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/versicolor.ca\/sandylakebedford\/?p=7020"},"modified":"2021-11-10T10:06:51","modified_gmt":"2021-11-10T10:06:51","slug":"regional-council-motion-for-optimal-conceptual-boundary-for-an-expanded-sandy-lake-regional-park-passes-9nov2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/versicolor.ca\/sandylakebedford\/2021\/11\/10\/regional-council-motion-for-optimal-conceptual-boundary-for-an-expanded-sandy-lake-regional-park-passes-9nov2021\/","title":{"rendered":"Regional Council Motion for “optimal conceptual boundary for an expanded Sandy Lake Regional Park” passes 9Nov2021"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Some really good news for all life on and around Sandy Lake and Marsh Lake…<\/p><\/div>\n

It was item 15.5.1 by Councillor Blackburn for the November 9, 2021 Halifax Regional Council Meeting<\/a>:<\/p>\n

15.5 MEMBERS OF COUNCIL<\/em>
\n15.5.1 Councillor Blackburn \u2013 Sandy Lake [PDF]<\/a><\/em>
\nMotion:<\/em>
\nThat Halifax Regional Council:<\/em><\/p>\n

1. Suspend the Rules of Procedure under section 17 of Administrative Order One, the Procedures of the Council Administrative Order; and<\/em><\/p>\n

2. Direct the Chief Administrative Officer to direct staff to retain an independent consultant to assist with expediting the preparation of a staff report and recommendation for the purpose of identifying an optimal conceptual boundary for an expanded Sandy Lake Regional Park based on environmental information about the area considering:<\/em><\/p>\n

a. The natural vegetation buffers required to protect the water quality and reduce downstream flooding of Sandy Lake, Sackville River, associated tributaries and wetlands.<\/em><\/p>\n

b. The size of park needed to protect the multi-aged and old growth Acadian Forest in the area and documenting the habitats at Sandy Lake for their potential to support species at risk.<\/em><\/p>\n

c. The locations of wildlife corridors that should be established to protect wildlife both within the park and movement through the area between the Chebucto Peninsula and mainland Nova Scotia.<\/em><\/p>\n

d. Identification of a secondary, western trailhead.<\/em><\/p>\n

Reason<\/strong>:<\/em>
\nExpansion of Sandy Lake Park goes back to 1971 when it was tagged in a joint Provincial-Municipal <\/em>project aiming to preserve seven important areas in HRM as Regional Parks. To date, 1000 acres have <\/em>been protected, but the 2006 Regional Plan also identified the area as one of the next in line for <\/em>housing development. Studies to determine the ecological ramifications of developing this area have <\/em>not been done. The area is thought to be a biodiversity hot spot with 11 distinct habitats, 15 species-atrisk and 99 different bird species nesting areas.<\/em><\/p>\n

The information this study will bring forward is important as we move forward with the new Provincial <\/em>Task Force on Development.<\/em><\/p>\n

Although there is some of the necessary expertise in house, this report needs an ecological lens which <\/em>is why I am proposing an independent consultant. It\u2019s also thought going to an outside expert will get <\/em>the report back sooner, recognizing Planning and Development are extra busy at this time.<\/em><\/p>\n

The Halifax Green Network Plan identifies the area as having overlapping values that need to be <\/em>resolved. It\u2019s zoned for housing yet is also recognized as a valuable greenspace (Map 9 of HGNP). <\/em>This study takes a huge step forward to resolving that.<\/em><\/p>\n

Outcome Sought<\/strong>:<\/em>
\nThat HRM retain an independent consultant for the purpose of identifying an optimal boundary for an <\/em>expanded Sandy Lake Regional Park based on environmental information about the area and provide <\/em>a report to Regional Council.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And it passed unanimously!<\/p>\n

Thx Councillor Blackburn! Thx Regional Council!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was item 15.5.1 by Councillor Blackburn for the November 9, 2021 Halifax Regional Council Meeting: 15.5 MEMBERS OF COUNCIL 15.5.1 Councillor Blackburn \u2013 Sandy Lake [PDF] Motion: That Halifax Regional Council: 1. Suspend the Rules of Procedure under section … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,11,24,22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7020","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-conservation","category-regional-park-proposal","category-regional-plan","category-sandy-lake"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/versicolor.ca\/sandylakebedford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7020","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/versicolor.ca\/sandylakebedford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/versicolor.ca\/sandylakebedford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/versicolor.ca\/sandylakebedford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/versicolor.ca\/sandylakebedford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7020"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/versicolor.ca\/sandylakebedford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7020\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7025,"href":"https:\/\/versicolor.ca\/sandylakebedford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7020\/revisions\/7025"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/versicolor.ca\/sandylakebedford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/versicolor.ca\/sandylakebedford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/versicolor.ca\/sandylakebedford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}