Noise At Meadowbrook.

Video by Jo Ann Goldwater of Les Amis de Meadowbrook.

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Victory At Meadowbrook!

It was announced last week that the city would not approve plans for a massive condo development on the land that is currently the Meadowbrook Golf Course. This is great news, especially for those that have been engaged in the battle to preserve Meadowbrook over the last few decades. Perhaps the huge crowd that showed up at City Hall last spring filling the main room and asking some tough questions influenced this decision? No doubt it was a climax of years of work and now they can feel that there has been some kind of a pay off and I give heartfelt congratulations to all who were involved over the years!. And it certainly is interesting how the Meadowbrook campaign to preserve the land as a green space has grown over time from a handful of local residents to include some of the top environmental activists in the city, cyclists that can see the potential of Meadowbrook as part of a critical bicycle path network for the West End and Greater SouthWest areas of the city, and the support of ordinary citizens all over the Island who can see the obvious value of preserving a much needed green space such as Meadowbook.

Perhaps the most significant thing about this whole journey has been the growth of communities understanding the interconnectedness of the urban issues on the Island. Like Turcot, Meadowbrook has become relevant far beyond it’s immediate geographic location, with people in Lachine, Cote Saint Luc, NDG, Lasalle, Verdun, and the South West coming together to share ideas about how these places/projects can and will affect their communities. We have begun to think globally, act locally, and share our ideas across a social and physical spectrum that defies traditional notions of class, demography, and political loyalty. Victory at Meadowbrook is a victory for everyone on the Island of Montreal!

The situation, however, is only a temporary solution. The City Of Montreal continues to refuse to grant Meadowbrook green space status, and it is not on the list of lands the City says it wants to acquire and preserve – despite a budget of 36 million to do exactly that!. My good friend, Avrom Shtern, of The Green Coalition and Les Amis de Meadowbrook, two groups that have fought a long and tough battle, says that while this is great victory, there is still some work to do.
“It is a fortuitous victory but until Montreal rezones it back to green or golf course on the VSP side and guarantees that some way the game is not over. But nevertheless it is a momentous occasion that we should not downplay. It is great news and shows that in the end of the day people power does work. Many people of past and present had a hand in this. Also many on the Montreal Executive voted for this outcome. So congratulations and thank you to the City of Montreal for a logical outcome at least for the short to medium term.
The City of Montreal and Island of Montreal, (Agglo), will shortly go through the process
of revising the Urban Plan. This may be a chance to convince Montreal to change the designation of the Ville Saint Pierre sector of Meadowbrook to commercial recreational. This would merely define Meadowbrook as it is now a golf course. But it certainly would be better than the current situation which classifies the VSP/Lachine sector as residential.
If that is successful Lachine Borough would have several years to conform to the Urban Plan and rezone.
It is imperative that Lachine residents in particular recognize the intrinsic value of Meadowbrook as a renaturalized open space where they can breath and live.”

And so it goes, still plenty of work to do, but this is a very positive event that moves things forward.
In the meantime developers are at work in Griffintown.

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Meadowbrook Événement / event — 7-Oct-2010

PUBLIC MEETING – THURSDAY, OCTOBER 7 from 7-9 PM

Dear friends…

In 2010, citizens from across the island of Montreal have banded together to save Meadowbrook and turn it into a park open and accessible to all. Although Meadowbrook is still ours to lose, a great deal of progress has been made and the next few months will be key in determining the fate of this precious green space.

To help us look to the future, Patrick Asch, director and founder of Heritage Laurentien has put together a presentation called “Visions of Meadowbrook Park”. This exciting glimpse of what Meadowbrook Park will one day look like is to be unveiled at a special fundraiser in less than two weeks time.

If you care about the future of green spaces in Montreal, then let’s show Mayor Tremblay in great numbers that now is the time to rezone Meadowbreak to recreational land!

When: Thursday, October 7, 2010 7:00

Location: Royal West Academy Auditorium

189 Easton Avenue Montreal West (see Google map)

Tickets: $10 – Refreshments will be served.

Don’t forget! We want to fill that auditorium to the rafters, so please forward this invitation to all your family and friends.

To reserve your tickets, please email Barbara Tekker at btekker@sympatico.ca or Bruce Charron at bcharron@jasminelindsay.com.

ASSEMBLÉE PUBLIQUE – JEUDI, LE 7 OCTOBRE DE 19H – 21H

Chers Amis…

En 2010, des citoyens de toute l’ile de Montréal se sont regroupés pour sauver Meadowbrook en recommandant qu’il soit transformé en parc nature ouvert et accessible à tous. Même si l’avenir de Meadowbrook est encore incertain, un progrès énorme a été accompli et les prochains mois seront significatifs pour déterminer ce qu’il adviendra de cet espace vert si précieux.

Pour nous encourager à regarder vers l’avenir, Patrick Asch, directeur et fondateur de Héritage Laurentien, fera une présentation sur les « Perspectives pour le Parc Meadowbrook ». Il nous dévoilera à quoi pourrait ressembler ce parc lors d’une assemblée publique qui se tiendra dans moins de deux semaines.

Si vous vous préoccupé de l’avenir des espaces verts sur l’ile de Montréal, venez assister à cette soirée en grand nombre afin de faire comprendre au maire Tremblay qu’il est maintenant temps de modifier le zonage de Meadowbrook pour en faire un espace à vocation récréative.

Date : Jeudi le 7 octobre 2010, à 19h00
Lieu : L’Auditorium de l’Académie Royal-West
189 avenue Easton, Montréal-Ouest (consultez l’itinéraire via Google)

Billets : 10$ – Des rafraichissements seront servis

Prenez note que nous voulons remplir l’auditorium à pleine capacité, donc prière de faire suivre cette invitation à votre famille et vos amis.

Pour réserver vos billets, contacter par courriel Barbara Tekker à btekker@sympatico.ca ou Bruce Charron à bcharron@jasminelindsay.com.

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The Pimento Report #22 Mayors For Meadowbrook

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Baby Foxes say “No Expropriations” At Meadowbrook

Perhaps we have all approached the threatened development of Meadowbrook from the wrong perspective. These photos by David Robertson says it all!

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The Pimento Report #21 Meadowbrook Goes To City Hall

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It’s Time To Stand Up And Save Meadowbrook!

Earlier this month, Les Amis de Meadowbrook, in collaboration with Héritage Laurentien and supported by dozens of environmental groups and thousands of citizens island-wide, announced that on April 19, 2010 (next Monday) we will be taking our campaign directly to Montreal City Hall in an attempt to convince the Mayor and members of Council to preserve Meadowbrook.

We are encouraging people who want to preserve our remaining green spaces to come in peace to the next Municipal Council meeting (275 Notre-Dame E. at 6:30 p.m.) on the 19th to ask that Meadowbrook be saved, and to wait on their answer.

We need to get the word out about April 19th, and if you feel as passionately about green spaces as we do, we hoped that you might help spread that message through your own network. Whether it be an email, a Facebook post, a Tweet, or maybe even a blog article, whatever small action you could do on our behalf would be greatly appreciated. What do we offer in return? Solidarity, of course. The S.O.S. Meadowbrook campaign will not disappear once this fight is over. When it comes to saving Montreal’s green spaces, we’re in it for the long haul.
savemeadow@yahoo.ca
or call 514-484-8668

Meadobrook Flickr Page

SOS Meadowbrook on Facebook.

SOS Meadowbrook on Twitter.

Meadowbrook Golf Site A Tug Of War

Meadowbrook

SOS Meadowbrook Blog

Les Amis de Meadowbrook

Meadowbrook May 2008

Meadowbrook May 2008 2

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Meadowbrook Press Conference

INVITATION – PRESS CONFERENCE

PRESS CONFERENCE: WEDNESDAY, APRIL 7, 2010 AT 1:30 PM

Les Amis de Meadowbrook invites you to a press conference to reveal its Action Plan to prevent Group Pacific Canada and the City of Montreal from destroying the Meadowbrook green space. There will also be a presentation on the reasons why preservation is essential, and how this green gem can be turned into a park open and accessible to all residents of the Island of Montreal. Press kits will be available.

Date: April 7, 2010
Time: 1:30 p.m.
Place: Toe Blake Park (corner of Banstead and Sheraton – see map)

Information:

Patrick Asch: 514.830.6540
Blog: http://www.sosmeadowbrook.org

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