Opposition to proposed golf course at Cape Breton's West Mabou Beach is growing

Erin Pottie CBC News - Nov. 8, 2022 Full article published here

Brenda MacLennan-Dunphy, right, at West Mabou Beach Provincial Park with her husband Ed.

An online petition that asks government officials to protect West Mabou Beach Provincial Park has already gathered more than 12,000 signatures.

Among the names of people wanting more protection for provincial parks is Brenda MacLennan-Dunphy, who lives about 20 minutes away from the beach in Skye Glen, Inverness County.

MacLennan-Dunphy visits the beach three to four times a week in the summer season.

"It's protected public land," she said. "And it's something that has been designated ecologically sensitive. I mean, the discussion has been had. It just seems like, is this really happening again?"

The developer Cabot Cape Breton has revived a proposal to lease part of the park for a new 18-hole course. When the idea was floated back in 2018, the provincial Department of Natural Resources turned down the plan, saying it found that parts of the park were "a priority ecosystem for conservation."

MacLennan-Dunphy said there are other properties in Inverness County to consider, but overall the plan makes little business sense as many enterprises in the area are already scrambling to find workers.

"If they wanted to buy private land and develop a golf course and … find people and truck them in to put them in bunkhouses to work, that can happen. But I don't think it's necessary to do so on West Mabou Public Provincial Park Beach. You know, there's other places it could happen."

Read the full article here.