After 11 years of FHC work the Halifax Common Master Plan process has begun -23 years after city hall’s commitment. The first public meeting confirms that the place to start must be the informed and balanced 1994 Halifax Common Plan. We must plan for the entire Halifax Common. We can’t leave anything to private discussions between the city and “stakeholders”. We must ensure that the entire Halifax Common is protected including the perimeter. And we must get back some of what the City lost. A curiously timed example is the sale of CBC-TV’s building to Capital Health days before HRM awarded the Master Plan RFP. As with the former QEHS, Grace Maternity and School for the Blind this site was always to be returned to the Halifax Common.
Please listen to Rick Howe’s Dec 13th interview with me to learn why we commoners must focus on getting the best-possible-big-picture-plan and not let HRM’s pet projects such as an aquatic centre keep us from getting there.
As always we’ll need your help in 2018. First up will be a public hearing on the proposed 20-storey APL building (Robie & Quinpool) at City Hall, 6pm, Tuesday January 16th. Many thank for your support during 2017.
Best wishes for the holiday season and the New Year.
Happy Solstice. Welcome the return of light.
Peggy Cameron,
Co-chair, Friends of Halifax Common
When FHC heard Premier Houston’s provincial government wanted Mayor Savage and HRM’s permission to cut 37 trees on Robie, Bell Road & Summer for the QEII hospital expansion, we knew there was a better option — take the building back from the edge so the tree roots were safe. Together our collective effort reduced the number […]
An idea planted by FHC led Jayme Melrose and her volunteers to transform QEHS lands into a place of productive beauty. Now the farm is evicted and still homeless. So let’s imagine the St Pat’s site with that same vision & ask HRM to transplant Common Roots to Quinpool. 95.7’s Listen to Sheldon MacLeod’s interview […]
Published July 1, 2018 June 23 marked the 255th anniversary of the Halifax Common, the 1763 Crown Grant by King George III for 235 acres of land and five acres of roads given “to and for the use of the inhabitants of the Town of Halifax as Common forever.” Clamoured for by the poor and […]
In June HRM Council ignored public opinion and staff advice to vote 10 to 6 in favour of George Armoyen’s 25-storey tower at Robie and Quinpool. The building will degrade the neighbourhood and the Halifax Common. And the decision assures an elite class of developers that democratically derived rules don’t matter to Council. Hear a […]
FHC supports the principles of the Centre Plan but believe it needs a better balance of proper densification and environmental care. Below are recent suggestions and concerns that we submitted. There are four distinct themes that build on previous asks such as growth scenarios that include commuter rail and 3-D models of what the Centre […]
May 22, 2018 Dear Mayor and Council, Re case 18966- 25-storey Armco Project As members of the Friends of Halifax Common we write to ask that you not proceed with further steps towards approving a 25-storey ARMCO building at the corner of Quinpool and Robie. We remind you that at the January 16th public hearing […]