West Island green space deal questioned

Environmentalists on Montreal's West Island are rejecting a deal that would help preserve part of a rare stretch of undeveloped green space.

The deal, brokered by Liberal MNA Geoff Kelley would preserve one-third of the wooded area extending from Cap-Saint-Jacques nature park in Pierrefonds alongside the l'Anse--l'Orme Park to Angell Woods in Beaconsfield.

Quebec's industrial development corporation, the Socit gnrale de financement, which owns the land, recently launched a call for offers on the property.

That move came as a surprise to former Quebec environment minister Line Beauchamp, who had hoped to turn the land into a conservation area.

Now, Kelley says he is confident the government will accept his proposal, which is based on a plan that has been negotiated between the city of Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue and the Montreal Agglomeration Council.

"You'll have a magnificent green space for generations to come and I think we all have interest to make this green space a reality," Kelley told CBC Radio Montreal's Daybreak on Friday.

But, protecting just one-third of the land, which lies along l'Anse L'Orme River the only inland river on the island of Montreal isn't enough for Green Coalition vice-president David Fletcher.

The size of the green space would not be enough to preserve a corridor for wildlife to move between Angell Woods and the conservation areas to the north.

"It'll become a bottleneck, essentially, for wildlife," Fletcher said.

"Our position is that the SGF can be turning over more land."

But, Kelley said increasing the amount of land to be preserved is simply unrealistic, because the city of Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue is also interested in having some of the land developed in order to increase its tax base.

The MNA said he is confident a final decision will be made in the next few weeks.