With the support of several Montréal environmental groups, Les Amis has submitted a brief to the consultation being held until June 21 on the Namur-Hippodrome project presented by the City of Montréal in April 2024.
The groups reacted to the presence of the St-Pierre River on the old hippodrome. Les Amis and its partners have been defending the River for many years and have seen promises come and go: ponds on the Bande Verte were supposed to recall the river and the lac à la Loutre it formed at the base of the falaise Saint-Jacques but in the end we were told that the height of the water table did not allow this. And let’s not forget the canalization of the St-Pierre on Meadowbrook in 2022, following an unfortunate court order.
The restoration of the St-Pierre River on the hippodrome would enable the rehabilitation of the whole St. Pierre watershed. Studies have shown that this would lighten the load of the Rockfield Basin and the Westover-St-Luc and St-Pierre collectors which are already at capacity. Although this water is not waste water, it nonetheless finds its way to the water treatment plant and adds to the cost of treatment before finally ending up in the St. Lawrence. Rehabilitating the watershed could supply water to the ponds promised for the Turcot Park and possibly help in the return of the river on Meadowbrook.
To read the brief, click HERE.
You can also participate in the consultation by supporting our brief. Visit Réalisons Montréal (https://www.realisonsmtl.ca/namurhippodrome) to find out how.
A 1 mm long daphnia as observed by David Fletcher in the ditch on the Hippodrome (Photo David Fletcher)
David Fletcher of the Green Coalition in the ditch that the St. Pierre River flows into on the Hippodrome (Photo Louise Legault)
A bee garden created by Poliflora at the Hippodrome: enough to forget the Décarie Expressway (Photo Louise Legault)
