In June 2015 a coalition of  14 community groups signed an open letter to Mayor Savage and the HRM Council about the misuse of the Development Agreement process within HRM.  Friends of Halifax Common supported this letter.

A recent meeting was held to see if these organizations were prepared to form a Coalition for Responsible Development in HRM.  Representatives from the various organizations were in attendance (c.36 people) and were in agreement on this.

To get started, another.. meeting will be organized within two or three weeks, with each organization sending one representative. The purpose will be to try to adopt a statement of core advocacy points, plus to talk over formal structure.

All organizations are asked to send in by email a short outline of particular planning concerns/experiences, for sharing with each other and for use on a website.

For example Friends of Halifax Common will identify the failure to implement the 1994 Plan, plus examples of loss of Common space, plus current issues, e.g. the CBC television building, the Armoyan, Chedrawe, Dexel proposals on Robie Street at Quinpool Rd .etc.

To date core advocacy points for the Coalition for Responsible Development in HRM include:
(i) a call for a moratorium on development agreements until the Centre Plan is completed;
(ii) a call for a moratorium on changes to the MPS until the Province has completed its review of the Municipal Government Act and the HRM Charter;
(iii) a call for those reviews to require reviews of the MPS every five years, and no alterations of the MPS in between unless by a 2/3 vote of Council.

So far the Coalition has ~14 groups within 6 districts of HRM.
If you know of any groups that may be interested in joining the Coalition please email willowtreehalifax@gmail.com
For further background information see:  https://willowtreehalifax.wordpress.com/

If you have questions or suggestions please let us know.

Peggy Cameron
for Friends of Halifax Common
www.halfiaxcommon.ca