Scott Young, Executive Director with Muskoka Conservancy, was before Huntsville Council at its September 23 meeting, asking for the municipality to partner with the organization in order to create trails and maintain and protect a 10-acre property in the Fairy View Drive area known as Brook Nature Reserve.
Young described the area as a rapidly developing, high-density area. “So there’s lots going on all around this nature reserve and what it’s doing is actually building up pressure on the nature reserve because it’s kind of engulfed by suburbs, and it’s become a bit of an island,” he told council. “It is a busy area, it’s rapidly growing, and I think it looks good on Huntsville to be working on some affordable housing in that area, so good for you… but we do need to think about the nature reserve and what’s good for it and maybe potentially work with the Town on a resolution.”
Young said the reserve was bequeathed to the Conservancy. “We own it. It’s private property and the intended use of that land was for it to be a nature reserve, so protected for its ecological value.” He said it’s a unique property in a place that is rapidly developing. Youg noted that the Conservancy had worked with the Rotary Club of Huntsville to do some tree planting there,
Young said the challenges that have been noted over the years involve issues with encroachment from neighbours, which is easy to do because property boundaries are not always clear. He also noted that there has been some yard waste dumping and tree cutting on the property. He said off-leash dogs have been observed on the property, evidence of small fires.
“We’re hoping to maybe start a conversation with the Town of Huntsville about potentially managing that use,” he said, adding that the use can be directed through things like the creation of nature trails, access points, and signage, but all initiatives must prioritize the protection and conservation of the land.
“I just think this is so incredibly timely,” said Huntsville Mayor Nancy Alcock. “And it’s such an opportunity. Ten acres might not seem like much, but when it’s right in the middle of an area that is highly developed and continues to be developed, and that is a conservation area… it’s a gem,” she said, adding that for the health of the community, it’s exactly the type of initiative that should be supported.
Councillor Bob Stone concurred. He said it is an “intensifying area, and we’ve received criticism about the way the town has grown in some areas, but this is the perfect solution for the growth in that area, and I can’t be more supportive.”
In the end, Council voted in favour of the proposal in principle and asked staff to work with Muskoka Conservancy to identify the legal and financial implications of installing and maintaining trails on the property.
You can find Young’s presentation here.
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