Montreal-area golf courses protected from real-estate development

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A new bylaw protecting golf courses in the greater Montreal region from real-estate development was announced Thursday, in the latest bid to protect vulnerable green spaces in urban environments in and around the city.

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Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante announced that the Montreal Metropolitan Community (CMM) had passed a bylaw to curb potential development on golf courses that could be converted into green spaces or nature parks in the future.

The regulation comes a few weeks after the CMM passed a similar interim control bylaw to temporarily outlaw all construction, redevelopment and work on land of ecological value across the 82 municipalities of the greater Montreal region while it works to ensure more sustainable development policies. The regulation extended the protection of green spaces and wetlands within its territory by an additional 12,367 hectares.

That law was given official approval by the Quebec government Thursday, by Chantal Rouleau, minister responsible for the Montreal region, at a meeting of the CMM in Montreal.

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“Natural spaces and green spaces … are the pillars of our ecological transition and our objective is to bring the total amount of protected territory to 17 per cent in the greater region of Montreal,” Plante said. “Seventeen per cent is good, but we have to go even further and we don’t have any more time to lose.”

Six golf courses were identified as needing priority attention under the new regulation: Golf Beloeil, the Candiac Golf Club, the Chambly municipal course, the Mascouche Golf Club, the former Rosemère Golf Club and the Le Boisé Club in Terrebonne. The golf courses cover nearly 284 hectares and are all in urban areas.

More sectors to be protected, including other golf courses, will be identified in a second phase.

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