Winnipeg councillor wants city to buy forest, save it from demolition

The Lemay Forest is tucked inside a river bend in St. Norbert, which Dana Derkson calls a sanctuary.

"Lemay Forest is a place where people go for peace, for exercise, for wellness," said Derkson.

The long-time area resident and community centre president is part of a local effort to keep the forest a forest. There are plans to build housing on the 22 acres of private property.

"I don’t think that this is an appropriate place to put the large-scale housing that they're talking about," said Derkson.

Tochal Developments owns the land. The local planner representing them, John Wintrup, says the firm wants to build affordable and assisted living housing.

“For a different variety of ages, abilities and types of people, sexuality, Indigenous people, new Canadians and veterans,” said Wintrup.

Now, following pressure from the community, and a city pledge to acquire more green space, area councillor Markus Chambers is pushing for the city to negotiate and buy the property or do a land swap.

“What a perfect opportunity to practice what we preach in terms of reclaiming privately owned lands that are scheduled for development,” said Chambers

Chambers notes, if need be, the city could explore expropriation talks with the province.

“If it came down to that, that's how passionately the community is feeling about the preservation of these lands.”

Wintrup doesn't want it to come to that. He says his client is open to a sale or land swap, but they need an answer by year's end, as he says this has dragged on since 2018 when the city last explored a sale.

"We need something other than this uncertainty that's been created for us and the community,” said Wintrup. “As long as this uncertainty remains, the more this conflict continues. We are not looking for conflict.”

Derskon said a swap makes sense.

"I'd like it to become a park preserve open to everybody that wants to visit,” said Derskon.

Chambers has a motion he’ll be putting forward at city hall for city officials to work out a deal and send the purchase price to the 2024 budget process for review.