Protest held outside proposed redevelopment of Kanata Lakes golf course

Residents in Kanata rallied against a housing development that will come at the cost of their local golf course on Sunday. CTV’s Natalie Van Rooy reports.

A protest was held outside the proposed redevelopment of the Kanata Golf and Country Club on Sunday.

Hundreds of residents lined the streets to push back against the contentious plan. The property has been embroiled in a legal battle for years, even reaching the Supreme Court of Canada, which declined to hear an appeal last September, effectively meaning that the development could go ahead.

Residents are still putting up a fight, citing concerns about the green space being ripped up, the presence of mercury on the property, and the risk of flooding.

• Ottawa city council approves motion to explore options to protect Kanata golf course from development

“I live on the ninth fairway, and I’m disgusted by all the construction that’s going on,” said Elizabeth Seaton, who was at the protest. “The water drainage patterns that’s being changed and piles and piles of aggregate coming in.”

The group held up signs with the message, “Save our Kanata green space.”

Residents have pointed to the 1981 agreement between the former City of Kanata and Campeau Corporation that states 40 per cent of the area must be kept as open space. The Supreme Court of Canada did not hear an application from the City of Ottawa to appeal the Ontario Court of Appeal’s ruling that declared the 1981 agreement “inoperative.”

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After the Supreme Court cleared the way in September for 1,500 homes to be built on the property, the Ontario Land Tribunal issued a draft plan approval of the plan of subdivision.

“The Ontario Land Tribunal said to the developer that you will have to clear about 190 conditions before you would ever be able to build,” said Kanata North Coun. Cathy Curry. “One of them is being the mercury contamination that is known to be all over the site and the other is for drainage and storm water.”

“We want protection from exposure to contaminated soil and rock, and we want protection from flooding,” said Diane Waloff, a Kanata resident who was at the protest. “Those are the two big main dangers.”

An environmental consultant put together a plan that includes not doing work in areas where higher mercury has been found, installing silt fencing and sediment traps to prevent runoff, using mats at controlled exit points to prevent soil tracking, and installing a temporary gravel surface path for vehicle movement on site.

“The question the community has, is that really what they’re doing? Is it really testing or is it more than that?” asked Curry.

Seaton says it’s not testing. “This is construction,” she said. “It started two weeks ago when they started rolling in with the trucks.”

A statement from Clublink, Minto, and Richcraft says that since 2018 the group has been working to provide much-needed new homes for the Ottawa region. The statement goes on to say, “Our work plan and weekly updates have been provided to city officials and the local councillor, and we remain committed to ensuring the project complies with all required approvals and regulations.”

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But residents remain upset by what they see happening on the property.

“Trucks starting at seven in the morning and going until six at night,” said Seaton. “It’s non-stop, why has this not been stopped?”

Curry says there’s still many unanswered questions on what’s going on at the property. She says the community was also told they would be able to meet with the developers four months ago and that meeting never took place.