More than a hundred citizens raise their voices at gathering

On September 14 at 6.30 p.m., over a hundred citizens gathered in front of town hall calling for the preservation and ecological restoration of the former golf course in Rosemère. The gathering was organized by Rosemère Vert Green Rosemère, a coalition of concerned citizens who are asking the city to act and identify solutions to protect and preserve the publicly zoned portion of the land, a 60 hectare site threatened by a possible zoning change that would allow residential development on 50% of this space.

According to the results of the consultations carried out by the city from 2018 to 2020, the majority of Rosemerites agree “that the share reserved for the park should be greater than 50%” while the vast majority support a 50% minimum, 70% minimum, even 100% [devoted to green space] ". While the city maintains that no plans for negotiations or development are currently on the table, Mayor Westram and city council have also repeatedly maintained that Rosemère will protect only 30 hectares in total. The rally on September 14 gave citizens the opportunity to network and call on the council to be open on this file and transparent in its future efforts .

"The public consultations carried out by the City of Rosemère reveal that a majority of Rosemerites are strongly attached to the preservation of 70 to 100% this green space,"said Anne Marie Huard, member of Rosemère Vert Green Rosemère and participant in the city’s consultations last year. “Despite this, the town of Rosemère seems supportive of a possible zoning change that would involve the destruction of 50% of the land for real estate development, while there are so many other options available to preserve this publicly zoned space.”

Rosemère Vert Green Rosemère once more presented its petition in favour of the protection and restoration of the golf course to the town council. Representatives pointed out that of the total 3,285 signatories, more than 523 were citizens of Rosemère, 1,085 residents of the MRC Thérèse-De Blainville and nearly 2,000 people from the Montreal region. The petition calls on the city and elected officials to take steps now to protect and renaturalize the entirety of publicly zoned land. Members of Rosemère Vert Green Rosemère expressed dismay with the Mayor’s attempts to downplay the significance of the petition in affirming that “he too can I can provide a document with 1600 names".

Members of Rosemère Vert Green Rosemère and the citizens in attendance yesterday were particularly disappointed that neither the mayor nor members of city council came out to speak with those gathered.

"It’s disappointing to see the mayor dismiss the civic engagement undertaken by hundreds of residents over the past few months and that he chose not to come out to speak with us at our rally. We were a hundred citizens gathered here to express our concern about the future of this space. We are doing this for the future of our children and our grandchildren. " - Robert Vallerand, a resident of Rosemère for 45 years who attended the event.

The citizens' initiative intends to continue its activities and a public awareness campaign over the coming weeks and months.

“There is a lot of scientific evidence that shows that green spaces generate more benefits than real estate development: the reduction of heat islands, the storage of CO2, atmospheric pollution control, the increase of biodiversity, the maintenance of habitats for animals, etc. And that's without counting the outdoor activities, the potential of local agriculture and the well-being caused by the presence of this jewel ”says Frédéric Pitre, professor-researcher at the Institute for Research in Plant Biology and member of Rosemère Vert Green Rosemère.

To find out more, visit rosemèrevert.ca or follow Rosemère Vert on social networks, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.