Pincourt residents fight to save 'last forest' from developers

Citizens of Pincourt have banded together to fight residential development on what they are calling one of the last existing forests on their side of Île-Perrot, just west of Montreal.

The area known by locals as the Rousseau Forest, though it is officially called Place Pierre-Brunet, is bordered by four residential streets. Locals worry their children will lose connection with nature if it disappears.

"How can we ask [our children] to preserve the world if they have no connection to it?" said Pincourt resident and activist Shelagh McNally.

Place Pierre-Brunet has been zoned for residential development since 1954 but the privately-owned land has served as a community green space for years.

Members of Sauvez Rousseau Forest, the group fighting to preserve the land, are concerned with how residential development will affect traffic, the environment and the neighbourhood as a whole.

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McNally, an active member of the group, said that bits of forest have already been shaved off for residential development in the past few years.

"A lot of us are alarmed that we're seeing the forest disappear very fast, without any kind of discussion," McNally said.

The group created a petition to save the green space which had garnered 629 signatures by Saturday.

The Town of Pincourt told McNally it had not yet received a formal request permit to develop on the land, but McNally said residents have seen an increase in sewer infrastructure, including upgraded sewer tunnels and fire hydrants at the edge of the forest.

Representatives for Pincourt were not available to comment on the weekend.

Calling for environmental assessment

Among Sauvez Rousseau Forest's concerns is how development will affect access to water, electricity and wildlife habitat.

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One species drawing concern is the western chorus frog, which some people believe might live in Place Pierre-Brunet. 

In 2015, a development in La Prairie on Montreal's South Shore was halted because it was proven that the land was part of the frog's habitat.

Sauvez Rousseau Forest is calling for the city to conduct an environmental study of the land in hopes that it would also prompt a halt on any development.

The city told McNally that many engineering and environmental firms are working to assess the environmental impact of a new development, but since the land is privately owned, the city said it doesn't have access to that information.