Friends of Mount Uniacke's Long Lake

At this point in time there is another public information meeting (PIM) set for July 29 in Mount Uniacke at the Fire Hall.

Now is the time to gather your information and any concerns you may have.

Take a tour of the 3 present developments in West Hants.

The first development was started 12 years ago and is STILL NOT completed. Will it ever be completed? Not at the rate this developer created the second and third developments in that immediate area. Now he wants to start several developments in our community. We will be under constant, massive construction. Is that what we want for our community?

The advertised "green space" is actually the tops of the cluster system septics and they cannot be walked on, played on, used for anything but just "looking at" because they are so sensitive to weight.

Roads were put in where the developer was advised NOT to put a road. Land was used without permission from the owners (condominium road association) for other roads and they did win their court fight. Do we want to be the means for the fines to be paid?

Garbage is not picked up on a regular basis.

Natural ponds, streams and environmentally sensitive areas have been damaged and had to be removed/filled in because these areas were encroached upon AFTER the developer was told NOT to touch them by government departments.

Waterways were re-routed against the Dept of Environment's instructions.

Dry hydrants were not installed in a timely manner. One road in and one road out makes for a very dangerous situation when fires are reported and the fire trucks head into the developments, or when RCMP are required on site. And all while the residents are trying to exit the developments to save their lives.

The development roads are wide, attractive and built to specifications, until you get around the first bend and they become one-lane gravelled, pot-holed, narrow, dust-laden lanes.

Public lake accesses off these "private roads" are foot paths that cannot be accessed unless you have a 4-wheel drive vehicle.

There are more "for sale" signs up in those developments than is normal and they are NOT for new construction. They are older "chalets". Why? Does the cover of the book and the advertisements look inviting enough to invest a lot of money until the book is opened and the purchasers realize that it is NOT what it is advertised to be?

Rumour has it that the developer maintains ownership in several of these "chalets" in order to rent them out. Is that what we want, or need, for our community? A transient society of party-goers? Or do we want/need permanent residents who will help our community grow responsibly and for the long haul?

ATV's run up and down them at all hours of the day and night.

Gather your thoughts and concerns together and let's support our Long Lake and our community to avoid this devastation.

We ask that our politicians be present at this meeting to hear the story and assess for yourselves what the potential is for devastation to this pristine wilderness. We need your support to help our community once again fight for its survival, just as we needed your assistance when we fought the Bio-Medical mess in 2005. Please come out and listen to the presentation and make your own judgment. We know you will not be "lost" in the "money grab" that this developer is planning for our community.

We are a group of citizens living in Mount Uniacke and the surrounding area who are concerned about the future of our community and what it means to our children. We are not environmentalists or radical people against development. We are people who live here.

Cottage Country® wants to buy land from Wagner Forest NS Ltd (Wagner) and build condominiums and rental housing around Long Lake. The primary plan is to build single unit condominiums that share water, and sewer resources with each other. The municipality does not have by-laws to handle this type of development. If the municipality rejects this, Wagner is going to sub-divide their land and sell as single family lots.

We want the lake and its surrounding land to be left to nature. We want the government to buy the properties currently owned by Wagner Forestry. Except for approximately 15% of the shoreline, Wagner owns the land surrounding Long Lake. We know this process takes time and we can allow for that. For the time being we feel the development of this land needs a moratorium. We need time to study the lake and its potential use for our future.

Potential future water source for Mount Uniacke area as the community grows. Water has been tested as some of the best in Nova Scotia in a community plagued with water problems associated with old gold mines.
Long Lake and its surrounding land is for the most part undisturbed habitat for Snapping Turtles (species of concern – COSEWIC) and possibly Wood Turtles (threatened – COSEWIC). Turtles require the ability to come to the shore to nest in very specific environments. They always nest in the same place as they did in the past. Housing on the shore would be a great stress to their populations.
All the other lakes in Mount Uniacke have been surrounded by houses. Few lakes of this size in Nova Scotia are not disrupted by dams or housing. This fact makes this lake a potentially amazing recreational resource for the future.
Long Lake is the top of a water shed and disruption here could affect the ecology of wetlands and rivers down stream.
The lake and surrounding wood lot are surrounded by many communities consisting of thousands of residents. It's used as recreation for many types of residents. The loss of this property to housing would be a huge blow to the community which uses this property.
No bio-diversity survey has been done in the area. The potential for rare or endangered species of organisms of all types is high considering the size of the lake and surrounding watershed and wilderness.
Long Lake is part of a traditional aboriginal trading route. Archaelological research needs to be done to determine possible significance in the area.

Send letters to the politicians to let them know this area is under threat and you want it saved. You can send them an email easily by clicking here.

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