The City of Montreal announced Friday that it will protect 16 hectares of green spaces that belong to it in the Technoparc sector, in the borough of Saint-Laurent. However, it will need the support of the private sector and the federal government in order to carry out all of its electoral commitment concerning the protection of natural environments in this sector.
The municipal lands for which the City intends to ensure long-term conservation are located within the Eco-campus Hubert Reeves and the IPEX marsh, known for the many species of birds that can be observed there. The municipal administration thus hopes to protect these green spaces in the west of Montreal from the real estate pressure that the arrival of a Metropolitan Express Network station – called Marie-Curie – will bring to the heart of this industrial district in the coming years. specialized in advanced technologies.
It is a complete environmental conservation, devoid of the power of construction, “assured Friday at the Homework the person in charge of large parks on the executive committee, Caroline Bourgeois, about the zoning change that will benefit the lands of the City in question. “There is fauna, flora and wetlands found there”, recalled the elected official, while specifying that the City wishes in parallel to allow industrial developments in the north of the Technoparc, which does not have the same ecological value.
This announcement, however, represents “a first step” for the City, which ultimately wishes to “triple the area of the Sources nature park”, she recalls in a press release issued on Friday. During the election campaign, Mayor Valérie Plante announced her goal of protecting approximately 175 hectares of green space in this sector, an area almost as large as Mount Royal Park, which has 190 hectares.
To achieve this ambitious target, however, the city will need the support of the federal government, which owns land in this sector, located near Montréal-Trudeau airport, but also some land belonging to private owners. “This is the key to achieving the objective,” insisted Ms. Bourgeois on Friday, about the support expected from the federal government.
“On this, we had good discussions with the Minister [de l’environnement] Steven Guilbeault and his cabinet, ”assured the elected representative of Projet Montréal.
The borough council of Saint-Laurent had also indicated Thursday in a press release that it had sent a letter to Minister Guilbeault in order to urge him to protect certain lands of high ecological value in the Technoparc on the sidelines of the firm’s decision. Médicom to give up building a factory in a wetland area last month.