Preservation No. 1 in Greenbelt plan

NCC unanimously approves new vision for 20,600 hectares

The National Capital Commission’s board has unanimously approved a new master plan for the Greenbelt — a vision that promises to make maintaining the natural environment the No. 1 priority within the 20,600-hectare swath of forests, wetlands, farms and streams that encircles Ottawa’s urban core.

“This is a cornerstone of our planning framework,” NCC CEO Jean-François Trépanier said Wednesday as the plan was formally approved.

He predicted the new master plan “will influence the capital region, and Ottawa in particular, for years to come.”

The plan doesn’t depart dramatically from the old plan, adopted in 1996, Trépanier said. “It’s a continuation of what we had before.”

But it refines and clarifies some of the previous plan’s objectives, he said. “The longterm positive impact is the preservation of this green space for the benefit of all Canadians and residents of the region.”

The plan, five years in the making, places preservation of the natural environment as its first priority, which the NCC says will mean a stronger, greener Greenbelt in future. Overall, 61 per cent of the Greenbelt is designated as natural environment areas.

The plan expands natural areas by adding 481 hectares adjacent to the Greenbelt — primarily the Leitrim wetlands. But because it removes 1,320 hectares of Ottawa airport land, the Greenbelt’s total size will actually shrink marginally.

Sustainable agriculture is another focus of the new plan, which protects about 5,800 hectares — 28 per cent of Greenbelt lands — for uses such as community gardens, market gardens, mixed farms and pick-your-own operations.

Federal and non-federal facilities occupy another eight per cent of the Greenbelt. The new plan retains existing facilities that require isolation and location within the capital region.

It gives priority to federal facilities and discourages the development of new non-federal facilities, though both will be carefully managed “to control their footprint and ecological impact,” the plan says.

The plan also gives priority to the Greenbelt’s use for recreation, with plans to expand and link up the existing 150 kilometres of trails used for hiking, skiing, snowshoeing and biking.

The Greenbelt receives 3.5 million visits annually for recreational and educational purposes. “What we hope to do is improve that experience,” said François Lapointe, the NCC’s vice-president of capital planning and environmental management.

The NCC has completed about two-thirds of the planned pathways in the Greenbelt, Lapointe said, and will continue to expand the network over the next couple of years.

“Once completed, the Greenbelt Pathway will provide for a continuous recreational experience across the entire Greenbelt,” the master plan says.

The plan lays out “fundamental premises” that provide the foundation for Greenbelt land-use planning and management. Among them:

❚ The Greenbelt will remain a large, rural green space running in a continuous belt in roughly its present shape and location; ❚ The Greenbelt will be an “environmental showcase” for Canada’s capital;

❚ It will remain in the public domain, planned and managed for the broad public good;

❚ It will be an “integrated, recognizable and relevant” feature that provides a gateway to the capital, preserves and connects natural ecosystems, buffers and connects human activity and contributes to a healthy environment and quality of life.

While the NCC might expand the Greenbelt by acquiring some “strategic parcels” of land, Lapointe said, the focus will be on forging partnerships with the City of Ottawa, non-profit organizations and property owners to protect ecosystems on the Greenbelt’s boundaries.

“We will be looking (to see) if people, while managing their activity, will also commit to the long-term preservation of those areas,” said Lapointe.

In preparing the plan, Trépanier said the NCC was “proactive” with the City of Ottawa in considering the impact of 30 future corridors through the Greenbelt identified in the city’s 2008 transportation master plan.

“We were able to see which would be acceptable with mitigation measures, and some which we said to the city, ‘ Those ones will be more difficult, we invite you to look at alternatives,’” Trépanier said.

The plan includes all but five of the corridors in the city’s transportation plan. It currently excludes a proposed park and ride in Leitrim, a maintenance and storage yard for light-rail transit in Pine Grove, the realignment of Leitrim Road south of the Ottawa airport, and two proposed modifications to Hope Side Road, at Moodie Drive and Highway 416.

The NCC says alternatives have been discussed with the city and three of the five are at “different stages of resolution.”