Tag Archives: Robie St widening

Help Stop R❤️bie St Widening! Petition & Letter Stop Robie St Widening!

Help stop HRM’s $200m plan to demolish Robie Street’s last historic neighbourhood (North to Cunard). HRM Council needs to hear from you: Do Not Widen Robie St! Citizens strongly oppose this. 1. Sign the new Petition  + 2. Send this Letter  + 3. tell others + 4. print & distribute our updated Hands Off Robie flyer. HRM knows data shows even for public transit, road widening won’t reduce traffic.

Write to Stop Robie Street Widening. Help spread the word by circulating, printing, posting this poster.

Better Choices  ❤️ Better Transit! Spend public money on signalized lane changes (i.e. MacDonald Bridge, Chebucto Road, Herring Cove Rd); buses; ferries; drivers; lower fares; shelters; a Mumford Terminal; public safety. Protect 40-70 affordable homes in a unique historic neighbourhood of First Nations, youth shelters, co-ops, heritage, affordable housing, business. Save the 80 historic trees that slow traffic, reduce noise, calm drivers, clean air,  give shade & beauty. Remind HRM: it is not a done deal.
Ask friends & neighbours to: 
1. sign the petition, AND
2. send this letter to the Council
3. tells others  / use social media
4. print & distribute our updated Hands Off Robie flyer 
(1) HRM April 24th TSC Report estimates road construction for 2029 (ish) to be $170m but as costs have inflated at an extraordinary fate from $53m in 2022 to $73m in 2023 for land acquisition alone, FHC believes the construction cost will be closer to $200M. THIS DOES NOT seem to INCLUDE COSTS FOR BRT – ONLY ROAD WIDENING.

 

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation?

September 29, 2025

Dear HRM Mayor Fillmore, Councillors and CAO,

Canada’s National Day for Truth and Reconciliation commemorates the children who died in the residential schools, supports Survivors, and calls for systemic change to create a healthier future for Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. A Nov 2024 Point-in-Time (PiT) count found ~181 unhoused Indigenous people in HRM. That is 16% of HRM’s total of 1,132 homeless individuals. That is an extreme overrepresentation of Indigenous people who are only 3.8% of the HRM population.

The apartment building pictured here is at Charles and Robie Streets. It has seven newly, extensively renovated homes that housed seven First Nations families. Government recently used public money to buy the building to demolish it. The building now sits empty.

2536 Robie St, newly renovated 7-unit First Nations Apartment Building. Purchased by government for demolition.

The demolition is part of a $200m plan to purchase to demolish 12-14 buildings in the short section from North St to south of Charles St to widen Robie St to add a 2nd bus lane. Data shows widening roads, even for public transit does not reduce traffic or congestion. Overhead bidirectional signals are a simple cheap solution to optimize transit and protect 50 to 70 homes and 80 trees. 

Of the 94 calls for action for Truth and Reconciliation-none conform with your evicting, displacing and demolishing First Nations’ homes. This plan is unnecessary, harmful and must be stopped. Repopulate this and other empty buildings. 

Work to create a healthier future for Indigenous and non-indigenous peoples.

Yours truly, 
Peggy Cameron
Friends of Halifax Common

Re: Urgent request for Emergency Meeting of Heritage Advisory Committee

September 26, 2025
Attention: Mr. Brad Anguish, HRM CAO, HAC and HRM Council

Dear Mr. Anguish, HAC Members, HRM Council

Re: Urgent request for Emergency Meeting of the Heritage Advisory Committee

I write on behalf of Friends of Woodill to request an emergency meeting of the HAC be convened at the earliest possible time. Friends of Woodill, representing the North Common district recently submitted two petitions for consideration at the Sept 24 meeting to request that third-party applications for HRM heritage designation for five properties be expedited.

  • The September 19 petition supported advancing the application for 6027 Williams to protect the historic home from demolition and work to preserve the beautiful streetscape of Williams St which is a fundamental element along the North Common. 
  • The September 21 petition supported adding three grand Halifax buildings south of Charles Street —2494, 2500, 2514/2516 Robie Street and 5816 North Street at the corner of Robie, next to the former home / clinic of Dr Ligoure, the first NS Licensed Black Medical doctor. All have unique architecture and associated histories worthy of heritage registration.

A motion to advance the applications should have been considered under an item added to the HAC meeting agenda. Due to improper procedure based on incorrect information from HRM staff, the HRM HAC did not act on two petitions.

The Heritage Property Act gives HRM the authority, under the Heritage Property Act, to stop demolition of the subject buildings. HRM staff information to the HAC that a demolition permit for 6027 William’s Street was being processed incorrectly ruled out HAC discussion and motion to expedite consideration of the Robie Street and Williams Street applications. That demolition application permit was submitted subsequent to the Heritage Application. And the information led to all five applications being similarly treated.

The petitions requesting that the third-party registrations be expedited were readily supported by HRM residents and each, within 3-4 days garnered broad support. To my knowledge no person when asked refused to sign them. This ready endorsement represents broad public sentiment towards the loss of HRM built environment at this time.

The applications for each of the buildings are effectively complete. The research/preparation represents hundreds of hours of volunteer time; work undertaken because all of the properties are at risk of demolition. That the evaluation of the applications is URGENT was emphasized to HRM staff in correspondence and phone calls. Please work with the HAC to remedy this incorrect process and ensure that the applications are advanced as quickly as possible.

Thank you.

Peggy Cameron, for Friends of Woodill

Mayor Fillmore-We Worry About Our Meeting, Neighbourhood & Misinformation

Writing on behalf of FHC and Robie St residents, Peggy Cameron and Howard once again ask Mayor Fillmore for a meeting. The first request was on November 4th 2024 with multiple follow up inquiries.

We worry that details on HRM’s plan to spend at least $75m to acquire property and demolish buildings to widen Robie Street for a bus lane are not fully vetted with residents or Council. The plan from 2018 or 2019 needs to be re-examined for its merit and to reassess using scarce public money to wreck our Robie Street neighbourhood from North to Cunard Streets. (Map details: https://shorturl.at/tCDHU ) 

Recent email communication from Councillor Cleary to residents continues to confuse or mislead. We worry other Councillors may also be unaware of misinformed. We again clarify why the Mayor & Council must optimize spending public money on reallocating existing road space, more buses, more drivers with better salaries, lower fares, better public safety and services such as bus shelters with seats and sidewalks and trees for shade and comfort. And stop the plan to wreck our Robie St neighbourhood.
Details below
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