Six golf courses in the Montreal region are now protected from real estate development under an interim control by-law (RCI) adopted Thursday morning by elected members of the Montreal Metropolitan Community (CMM).
The Club de Golf Beloeil, the Club de golf de Candiac, the Golf municipal de Chambly, the Club de golf de Mascouche, the old Rosemère golf course and the Le Boisé golf club in Terrebonne total an area of 284 hectares and could potentially be converted into green space or a natural environment.
The elected officials representing the 82 member cities of the CMM unanimously endorsed the RCI on Thursday. The CMM believes that it is able to protect these golf courses, because it considers that it has enough space within the current urban perimeter to allow population growth by 2041.
“Our goal is to increase the surface area of protected natural environments in Greater Montreal to 17%. 17% is good, but ideally you have to go further. We have no more time to lose,” said Valérie Plante during a speech to CMM members on Thursday.
CMM does not exclude the possibility of protecting other golf courses in a later phase of the RCI. It is also conducting studies to increase the surface area of green spaces as part of the revision of the Metropolitan Land Use and Development Plan (PMAD).
The adoption of ROI has been welcomed by the Golf Courses in Transition Coalition. This organization, which brings together some twenty citizen groups, has been campaigning for years for the protection of golf courses, some of which are no longer used. “Today, thousands of citizens will be happy to learn that CMM regulations have finally been created to preserve these green spaces that are so dear to them. Unfortunately, we also know that others will be disappointed and concerned to see that their golf course or former golf course does not benefit from this protection,” the Coalition commented in a press release.
Last April, the CMM adopted an RCI on the protection of natural environments which aimed to add 12,367 hectares of land and wetlands to the areas already protected, for a total of 53,435 hectares. This protection notably covered all of the chorus frog habitat on CMM territory.
Thursday, the minister responsible for the Metropolis, Chantal Rouleau, also announced that Quebec had approved this RCI and that it could now come into force.