To protect Meadowbrook from development and transform it into Meadowbrook Park, a new 57-hectare urban nature heritage park, including the historic St. Pierre River, open and accessible to all, and connected through a greenway to a network of parks, including the falaise Saint-Jacques.
On June 24, 2006, two members of Les Amis de Meadowbrook, and a representative of the Green Coalition went to survey the damage and to take an inventory of the trees that were cut down on Meadowbrook on or about June 14 and on June 21, 2006.
This wanton destruction took place in a beautiful wooded area at the north end of the Golf Coursehttp://lesamisdemeadowbrook.org/wp/campaign-history-1989-to-date-2/campaign-2004-2007r/ and it has been left in a deplorable state. The ground is littered with sawed off tree trunks, as well as many small trees that were knocked over by the falling trees. It took about two and a half hours, and they counted and photographed 56 trees that had been cut down. Three of these were dead and the rest of them of various sizes but were healthy. Most of them were cottonwood, one possibly a hundred years old, but there were several ash, elm and sumac.
It is a mystery why this despicable act was committed. There is a rumour that some of the residents on Blossom Avenue, which is adjacent to the golf course were complaining about the pollen falling from the cottonwood trees. Whatever the reason, we believe that it was the owners of Meadowbrook, Fairmont Hotels, who arranged for the trees to be cut down.
Unfortunately the City of Cote St Luc does not have a by-law that prevents the cutting down of trees on private property as most municipalities on the island of Montreal do. If they did, this disaster could not have occurred. This cutting down of trees is only adding to global warming and climate change.
It is unforgivable to cut down perfectly healthy trees for no reason. Many of the trees that were cut down were cottonwood that grow very quickly and are especially important to prevent global warming, They are also nesting places for Baltimore Orioles, that are now becoming quite rare. They used to nest in the Dutch elm, but they were killed off by disease.
Our only recourse now is to pressure the people who cut these trees down to clean up the area and replant trees so that the ecosystem can recover and be a home to the flora and fauna that live there.
We must also lobby for the City of Cote St Luc to toughen up their tree by-law to prevent the cutting down of healthy trees, even if they are on private property. This must never happen again.
February 2006 News / Nouvelles, février 2006
Green Party leader Jim Harris’ recent visit to Meadowbrook while he was campaigning during the federal election in January. Liberal MP Marlene Jennings, Montreal West mayor Campbell Stuart and Côte-St-Luc city councillor Dida Berku also attended.
Lire ici au sujet de la récente visite du chef du parti vert Jim Harris à Meadowbrook au cours de sa campagne pour l’élection fédérale de janvier. La députée libérale Marlene Jennings, le maire de Montréal-Ouest Campbell Stuart et la conseillère municipale de Côte St-Luc, Dida Berku ont aussi assisté à l’événement.
October 2005 News/Nouvelles, octobre 2005
Jo Ann Goldwater, Jack Cabot Alice Asslay, Kay Wolofsky, Avrom Shtern
November 2004 News / Nouvelles, novembre 2004
On November 1, 2004, we received an answer to our letter from Fairmont.Read it here. Les Amis de Meadowbrook will be discussing what our next step will be.
Le 1er novembre 2004, nous avons reçu une réponse à notre lettre de la part de Fairmont. Read it here. Les Amis de Meadowbrook discuteront des actions à entreprendre.
October 2004 News / Nouvelles, octobre 2004
On October 12, 2004, the OCPM issued their recommendations for the revision of the Urban Plan for the City of Montreal. They made three suggestions that we believe directly relate to the preservation of Meadowbrook:
The importance of maintaining green space in the city.
Residential land use designations should be disallowed for sites neighbouring railway yards, freight lines and industrial parks.
Territorial jurisdiction of the Plan should apply to the existing City of Montreal as a whole.
For more information, read the OCPM English Recommendations, Press Release
Le 12 octobre 2004, l’OCPM a émis ses recommandations pour la révision du plan d’urbanisme de la ville de Montréal. Il a fait trois suggestions qui se rapportent directement à la préservation de Meadowbrook :
L’importance de maintenir des espaces verts dans la ville.
Les désignations résidentielles en matière d’usage des sols devraient être interdites pour des lieux situés près des cours de triages, des lignes de chemins de fer et des parcs industriels.
La juridiction territoriale du plan devrait s’appliquer à l’ensemble la ville de Montréal actuelle.
Glen Yard Closed / Fermeture de la cour de triage Glen
Earlier in October, the Glen Yard was closed in order to begin decontamination of the site for the new McGill University Health Centre. This means that commuter trains that were parked there will be moved to Sortin Yard in Ville St. Pierre. This yard is adjacent to Meadowbrook and will result in more train traffic in the area surrounding the golf course.
Plus tôt en octobre, la cour de triage Glen a été fermée pour permettre la décontamination du site en prévision de la construction du nouveau centre universitaire de santé McGill. Ceci veut dire que les trains de banlieue qui y étaient stationnés seront déplacés à la cour de triage Sortin à ville Saint-Pierre. Cette cour de triage est adjacente à Meadowbrook ce qui augmentera donc l’achalandage de trains dans le secteur autour du terrain de golf.
Les Amis de Meadowbrook’s Letter to Fairmont Hotels and Resorts / Lettre des Amis de Meadowbrook à “Fairmont Hotels and Resorts”.
Over two months have passed since our original letter to Fairmont Hotels and Resorts and we have had absolutely no response. On Oct. 15th, we wrote to Willam Fatt, CEO and Terrence Badour Executive VP again and requested an answer within two weeks. This week we sent the same letter to Carole Taylor, Director, Environmental and Safety Committee. We will keep you informed on further developments.
We are pleased to announce that Heritage Montreal has agreed to add their signature to our letter to Fairmont.[edit]
Près de deux mois sont passés depuis l’envoi de notre première lettre à ” Fairmont Hotels and Resorts “. (voir la lettre ci-dessous). Le 15 octobre nous avons écrit une nouvelle fois à William Fatt, PDG et à Terrence Badour, vice-président exécutif en demandant une réponse d’ici deux semaines. Cette semaine nous avons envoyé la même lettre à Carole Taylor, directrice du Comité de sécurité environnementale. Nous vous tiendrons au courant de tout nouveau développement.
Nous sommes heureux d’annoncer qu’Héritage Montréal a accepté d’ajouter sa signature à notre lettre à Fairmont.
Important Meeting / Réunion importante
Claude Dauphin and Robert Libman have planned a meeting on Oct. 29th to discuss a compensation package for Lachine in exchange for their support for preserving Meadowbrook. Article follows:
Claude Dauphin et Robert Libman ont prévu de se rencontrer le 29 octobre afin de discuter une compensation pour Lachine en retour de son appui à la préservation de Meadowbrook. Voici l’article:
Support at City Council / Appui au conseil municipal [Edit]
Please try to attend the Montreal City Council Meetings and support our members during question period. Jack Cabot and Avrom Shtern have been very active in asking the right questions and trying to get answers about the status of Meadowbrook from our elected representatives. The meetings are generally held on the last Monday of each month, and question period begins at 7 PM. Click here to find out when the next meeting is.[Edit]
Essayez s’il vous plait d’assister aux réunions du conseil municipal de Montréal pour appuyer nos membres pendant la période des questions. Jack Cabot et Avrom Shtern ont été très actifs à cet égard en posant les bonnes questions afin de tenter d’obtenir des réponses de nos représentants élus sur le statut de Meadowbrook. Ces réunions se tiennent généralement le dernier lundi de chaque mois et la période de questions débute à 19 heures. Cliquer ici pour voir la date de la prochaine réunion.
Fairmont Hotels / Hôtels Fairmont
Les Amis de Meadowbrook sent a letter to Fairmont Hotels and Resorts on August 18, 2004 asking for a meeting with them to discuss how we can work together to keep Meadowbrook green. Among others, this letter has been signed by Phyllis Lambert, noted architect and founder of the Canadian Centre for Architecture, and Robert Perrault from the Conseil Regional Environmental de Montréal.
Les Amis de Meadowbrook ont fait parvenir une lettre à ” Fairmont Hotels and Resorts ” le 18 août 2004 demandant une rencontre afin de discuter les façons dont nous pourrions travailler ensemble pour que Meadowbrook reste vert. Entre autres, cette lettre a été signée par Phyllis Lambert, éminente architecte et fondatrice de Centre canadien d’architecture et de Robert Perrault du Conseil régional environnemental de Montréal.
Green Spaces Going Ahead?
At the City Council meeting on August 30, 2004, Mile End City Councillor, Helen Fotopulos, Executive Committee member responsible for green spaces and parks, stated that the City has every intention of going ahead with its natural spaces policy by October 2004.
Lors de la réunion du conseil municipal du 30 août 2004, Helen Fotopulos, la conseillère municipale de Mile End et membre du conseil exécutif responsable des espaces verts et des parcs a affirmé que la ville avait l’intention de mettre en oeuvre sa politique sur les espaces naturels d’ici octobre 2004.
Letter to Mayor Tremblay / Lettre au maire Tremblay
The Green Coalition held a press conference on September 8, 2004 in which they delivered a letter to Mayor Tremblay asking him to honour his promises to preserve Montreal’s green spaces.
La coalition verte a organisé une conférence de presse le 8 septembre 2004 lors de laquelle elle a remis une lettre au maire Tremblay lui demandant de tenir sa promesse de préserver les espaces verts de Montréal.
