Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston says a proposed golf course in Cape Breton’s West Mabou Beach Provincial Park will not go ahead, adding that the company’s plans were “unreasonable.”
The company, Cabot, submitted a proposal to government over the summer to secure part of the provincial park.
“What we were trying to look at was what would be the pros and cons, what would be something that would be of benefit to Nova Scotians and I think that was the process that was happening,” Houston told reporters Thursday.
Cabot currently operates golf courses in nearby Inverness, and this is its third pitch to build at the Mabou park.
The company’s website says it wanted to construct an 18-hole golf course and shop, which would occupy up to 35 per cent of the park’s land.
Houston says the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) determined its asks were “unreasonable.”
“How much of the park, what’s in it for Nova Scotians, how long is the term, is it remediated, these types of things,” he said about the province’s decision process.
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“I think in the end, (DNR) just reached the conclusion the asks were unreasonable or not in the best interests of Nova Scotians.”
Houston says he does not know if Cabot will revise its proposal and try again.
“I don’t know what they’re going to do, I just know where we’re at,” he said.
The project has been receiving pushback from some community members, including a group called Save West Mabou Beach Provincial Park.
The park encompasses about 2.8 square kilometres of sand dunes and beaches along the shore of the Northumberland Strait and is home to more than a dozen rare and endangered species, including the piping plover, a tiny shorebird that nests in the sand.
It is the only known spot in the Maritimes to find the upswept moonwort, a fern whose thick leaves curl upward in clusters of finger-like lobes.
Advocates were particularly concerned because Houston seemed warm to the idea of a golf course.
The premier said last month that in light of a billion-dollar deficit, the province had to “be looking at opportunities” and that “if a company comes into Nova Scotia and says we have an idea, I think it would be irresponsible to not listen.”
Official Opposition Leader Claudia Chender said Thursday that while she was happy with the decision, the proposal shouldn’t have gotten this far.
“(Houston) has put the community through a tremendous amount of turmoil and hardship to yet again flip-flop on this issue that really impacts the community, life, and nature of a community in Nova Scotia — and for what?” said Chender.
The Liberals say it is a win for the people.
“I think they were going to stand up even more. They had a rally planned for it and everything this weekend,” said Liberal Party House Leader Iain Rankin.
“This was an intentional moment today to prevent any more opposition, any more political impact to the premier.”
— with a file from The Canadian Press
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