The Nova Scotia government announced the Sandy Lake-Sackville River area last month as one of nine areas where growth will accelerate as the county faces a growing population, skyrocketing property prices and limited housing stock. But as the county struggles to build 6,000 private homes in the West Lake area near Bedford, a coalition of 27 community groups is trying to expand a small protected park on the east side and repel developers. “I urge the public to walk on the west side [Sandy Lake]. “They will just shake their heads that people would really build there,” said Walter Regan, president of the Sackville Rivers Association, one of the coalition groups. Regan’s team wants to see Sandy Lake Park, a 404-acre property in Halifax County, nearly doubled in size to protect forests, wetlands and animal habitats.

The coalition questions the viability of the plan

He said wild Atlantic salmon, mainland elk, old trees and more could be at risk if it grows anywhere in the proposed 728-hectare park, which will include land selected for development. Reagan criticized the fast-track process, saying there was a lack of community consultation. “You may be able to speed things up, but will you do it in a sustainable way? Ten years from now, we will look back and say, ‘We did not need those 6,000 units.’ “We should have heard people tell us that wildlife and endangered plants and animals deserved to be saved.” In addition to concerns about deforestation and declining water quality, Reagan said he was concerned about increased car traffic in the area and halting animal migration. He estimates that 13,000 people could move around the area, leaving more than 4,000 cars to drive daily along Hammonds Plains, an already busy street that runs west of Bedford into a number of suburban communities.

Environmental studies to be considered: working group

The Sandy Lake-Sackville River site was presented by the Housing Task Force, a committee of city and county officials. Committee chairman Geoff MacLellan, a former county Liberal minister, said HRM environmental studies in the Sandy Lake area would be taken into account when creating a development plan. Map of the Sandy Lake area. Light green areas are the property of the municipality, the red border is the proposed extension of the park. The Sandy Lake – Sackville River Coalition says there should be no growth within this red border. (Sandy Lack – Sackville River Coalition)
“We have to find this balance between protecting critical ecological areas and finding sites for growth that are needed during the housing crisis. So there is a fine line and it is our duty to ensure that we follow this fine line,” he said. MacLellan defended the fast timeline. “We do not seek to underestimate public consultation and the council process, but there are opportunities to streamline some of these processes to reduce months and sometimes years of the process,” he said. “That’s our duty to do.” In February 2021, the Sandy Lake-Sackville River Regional Parks Coalition unsuccessfully appealed to the Halifax Regional Council’s environmental committee to expand Sandy Lake Park. Coun. Tim Outhit, whose Bedford-Wentworth area includes the park, said he was in favor of an extension, but not the proposed 728 hectares. Outhit said developers would have to pay 50 percent of the cost to upgrade Hammonds Plains in order to handle the increased traffic. The municipality recently commissioned Bedford-based McCallum Environmental to conduct an environmental assessment in the area to possibly propose a conservation limit for the county and builders. The study is ongoing. But Reagan said any proposed limit that is not within 728 acres would be “trivial” when it comes to conservation. “We must have housing with the environment, not housing against the environment,” he said. In 2018, the Halifax Regional Green Network Plan – a land management and community planning strategy – identified three wildlife trails in the area around Lake Sandy, meaning the area is important for animal migration and habitat.

“Wrong way”

Karen McKendry of the Ecology Action Center, a member of the Sandy Lake-Sackville River coalition, said the vision for Sandy Lake Park has always been an expansion since it was founded in 1971. “We know there are two possible futures for this: growth or expansion. The announcement that it’s going to happen quickly, we certainly believe is the wrong way to go,” said McKendry, Wildlife Approach Coordinator with Halifax Environment. McKendry said people should visit the park and swim from its beach to understand its significance. “It is one of our really special lakes because unlike many other lakes in Halifax and Dartmouth, it is a deep, clear lake,” he said. “If you put housing at the head of the lake, you will probably destroy it.”