City of Guelph and conservation authority working on Niska Road land agreement

A portion of the Niska lands are pictured on Wednesday, March 14, 2018.

The City of Guelph and the Grand River Conservation Authority are working together to hammer out a deal regarding 126.16 acres of land along Niska Road.

The land is comprised of 101.41 acres north of Niska Road, including the site of the former Frank Kortright Waterfowl Management Area, and 24.75 acres of the Natural Heritage System south of Niska Road. It does not include an agricultural field zoned for residential use south of Niska Road.

On Friday, the Grand River Conservation Authority (GRCA) board agreed to put together an agreement that would allow the city to buy the land for $756,960.

In a news release, the city said it intends to use the parkland reserve fund to pay for the purchase.

As part of the agreement, a joint working group will be formed and up to $350,000 from the GRCA’s Master Plans reserve fund will be used for trail construction and restoration work on the lands being sold to the city. The decision was made, in part, to honour the financial contribution the city made when the lands were originally acquired during the 1970s. Municipal, provincial and conservation authority funds were used, but the GRCA was listed as the sole landowner.

“The GRCA Board has approved the contribution of up to $350,000 from the GRCA’s Master Plans reserve fund to be used for trail construction and restoration work as a demonstration of its resolve to honour the commitments in the Niska Landholdings Management Plan and conserving the environmental features on these lands," the GRCA said.

“The Niska lands are a great space because they bring Natural Heritage System land, trail network expansion and space for a future community park into our parkland system. That’s great news for the community, no matter how you like to enjoy the outdoors,” Gene Matthews, Guelph’s general manager of parks, said.

“The transfer of most of the GRCA’s Niska Landholdings to the City of Guelph is an important step in realizing the main objectives behind the recommendations in the Niska Landholdings Management Plan,” Joel Doherty, Grand River Conservation Authority director of conservation lands, said. “We applaud the City for valuing the benefits of spending time outdoors for its residents and for its commitment to conserving these natural lands.”

“We look forward to working collaboratively with the City and the community to plan the implementation of trails and to help ensure that the key natural features and habitat at Niska are conserved,” Doherty added.

The conservation authority said they look forward to working with the city and the community make enhancements to the land and reopen it to the public. The Niska land have been officially closed to the public for years and use of the property has been restricted to the agricultural use of two farm fields.

The sale has not been finalized.

“My team and city staff will be working towards and executing an agreement, a purchase and sale, with the hope that the transaction and transfer of the land could take place sometime later this spring,” Doherty told CTV News on Friday afternoon.