ST-JEAN-SUR-RICHELIEU — Dozens of residents living in the south shore city of St-Jean-sur-Richelieu are fighting to protect all of its green spaces.
Many of them turned out to a consultation meeting Thursday night to denounce city plans to develop 38 hectares of woods.
Josée Goudreau, a St-Jean-sur-Richelieu resident, told Global News she’s very worried about the long-term development plans for the city of 92,000 people.
“They keep changing the numbers on us,” she said, while describing the total amount of land mass the city plans to develop.
According to Goudreau, in 2009, the city said that 248 out of 286 hectares of wooded areas would remain protected.
But Goudreau is concerned that the trees in the remaining 38 hectares could be bulldozed to make room for residential and commercial development, although the city hasn’t announced details yet.
Nor would the city provide a list of the owners of the wooded areas slated for development.
While the vast majority of forests in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu will still be protected under the city’s plans, Goudreau noted the total wooded area of St-Jean-sur-Richelieu represents only 1.3 per cent of the city’s total geographic land mass.
Goudreau said she believes all wooded areas need to be protected because there is hardly any green space left.
A petition has been signed by more than 5,000 residents asking city councillors to protect all wooded areas from any form of development.
The next public consultation meeting with the city is slated for April 16, 2015.
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