Letter: If Owls Head can be sold, then so can any of 200 other properties awaiting designation

Go ahead. Call us crazy.

We bought a house in Herring Cove last summer without setting foot in it.

One of the chief reasons that we chose this lovely home is that it backs onto Herring Cove Provincial Park Reserve. We were assured that the park would never be developed because it’s permanently protected. We were wrong.

It turns out that our current premier, and former Minister of Lands and Forestry, Iain Rankin entered into a Letter of Offer with an American billionaire to sell the designated Owls Head Provincial Park for a pittance… All while intentionally withholding information about this sweetheart deal from the public.

Okay, that’s concerning – and arguably despicable – but what does it have to do with me in Herring Cove? Well, as we were shocked to find out, a lot.

If the government’s secret deal to sell and destroy Owls Head Provincial Park (and the surrounding marine environment) to build a golf course goes through, then that will give a green light to every greedy developer and their attached politicians to try to sell off these gems. These areas should be protected for me, my children, my grandchildren, and generations to come.

So, I have a pony in this race. And if you live near any of 200 other properties awaiting designation, then so do you. I do not want to gaze upon condos from my new home in Herring Cove. I want to enjoy what nature has given us, and I want to pass that on to my family. I also plan to vote in the upcoming election, and I will do everything in my power to stop the clandestine Owls Head Provincial Park giveaway.

Shawn Rosvold, Herring Cove

See also: News brief: Environmentalists and locals rally at Law Courts to defend pristine Owls Head from turning into golf courses and resort