Conservation authority pulls out of maligned Navan wetland project
'It is our view that construction on the proposed site could lead to additional confrontation'
The South Nation Conservation Authority has backed out of a controversial plan to create a publicly accessible wetland in Navan, saying they're worried tensions with residents could get ugly.
In a letter to Coun. Stephen Blais written Monday and obtained by CBC News Thursday, the conservation authority said it's concerned that the safety of its workers could be jeopardized by moving ahead. It also said they're worried property could be vandalized or even destroyed.
"It is our view that construction on the proposed site could lead to additional confrontation (beyond the language and behaviour we have already encountered)," reads the letter, signed by general manager Angela Coleman.
The conservation authority also said some residents "remain unsatisfied with our project communications," and that "many residents remain unsupportive and highly critical" of the idea.
Had been given green light by council
The $300,000 project involved a small parcel of parkland owned by the city at 999 Smith Rd., north of the Prescott-Russell Trail Link.
The conservation authority had wanted to build a shallow pond and a boardwalk there. The idea originated with the Navan Community Association as a way to make the land more accessible to the public while preserving it as a wetland space.
City council had already given the project the green light.
But the plan has divided the community.
Birchtree Crescent residents created the Navan Landowners Committee to fight the project.
They have circulated online petitions, one of which calls for the project's termination. It says they're concerned the project is the first step "in a steady 'creep' in the rezoning or re-designation" of the parkland into a provincially significant wetland.
They're concerned that would bog homeowners down in red tape, and cause "a drastic decrease in property value and restrictions to landowners' rights within the wetland areas and surrounding buffer zones."
At an information meeting last week, some residents among the 100 who attended told officials to sit down and said they weren't trusted. Blais was also told he could be in trouble over the issue in the next municipal election.