Resource Opportunities Centre Bulletin

The ROC is looking for individuals who would be interested in serving on the ROC Board or on any of our sub-committees as well as volunteering in any other capacity.  The new Board will be voted in during our Annual General Meeting scheduled for June 17^th, 2013 at 7pm at the Prospect Road Community Centre. 

The Resource Opportunities Centre was originally established in 1998 as the Terence Bay and Area Community Access Program (C@P).  This program's focus was to build stronger communities through technology (www.nscap.ca).  The site for the computers was located in the Terence Bay Elementary school and continues to provide public access to computers and the internet, computer training to people of all ages, and children's recreational programs.  A satellite of this is set up in the Prospect Road Community Centre.

From this program, the Resource Opportunities Centre grew to providing children's camps and activities financed by grants and run by volunteers.  This has grown to providing a second physical space – the Prospect Community Centre, an organization that is financed through self sufficiency and grants.  As a result of these programs there have been more than 100 employment positions created (mainly part time youth) and numerous community projects undertaken.  The most significant of which (before the Community Centre) has been the Building Bridges project, 2005-2008, through which www.prospectcommunities.com was created. 

We currently have space available on the ROC Board and are looking for individuals with skill sets and experiences such as yours, to enrich our effectiveness as a Board.  If at this time, you are not able to dedicate yourself as a Board Member please consider volunteering in another capacity.  We have many sub-committees, as well as programs that could use your skills.  If you would like to receive further information, such as Board by-laws, governing policies, responsibilities of a Board Member, financial statements, etc. or have any questions, please contact me at 852-1250 or email recruitment@prospectcommunities.com.

We look forward to seeing you on June 17^th, 2013 at 7 p.m.

Sincerely yours,

Liz Amyoony

Current Board Member of Resource Opportunities Centre

May Fair in the Park and other upcoming events with Five Bridges Wilderness Heritage Trust

Hello,

 

Five Bridges Wilderness Heritage Trust is busy planning many exciting events that will take place in the coming weeks.  Please review the listings below and join us as we enjoy our parks and wilderness area.

May Fair in the Park - Sunday, May 26, 2013

Five Bridges Wilderness Heritage Trust invites you to its annual May Fair in the Park on Sunday, May 26.

Join the Trust for children's games, BBQ and a scavenger hunt lead by the Indian Point Young Naturalists.  Children will have a chance to win prizes and tour fire trucks, while the grownups learn about the many community organizations working to enhance our community.

Where: Jerry Lawrence Park, Lewis Lake

When: May 26, 2013 from 12-3p.m.

*NOTE: In the event of inclement weather, the May Fair will be held at the Hubley Centre, 4408 St. Margaret's Bay Rd., Lewis Lake.

COCO Meeting –Thursday, May 30, 2013

The May Meeting of the Council of Community Organizations (COCO) will be held at 7 p.m. on Thursday, May 30 at the Safety Minded ATV Club , 15  Station Rd, Head of St. Margaret's Bay.  The Safety Minded ATV Club will be the host group for this meeting.

There are many  environmental and planning initiatives  on which updates will be given including the activities of the Five Bridge Lakes Wilderness Coalition, planning for the Crossroads, the Crown Lands of Western NS (formerly Bowater lands), and the Otter Lake Landfill Site.

All are welcome. For more information please contact Beth McGee at 823-2245 or John Cascadden at 852-4248.

Warbler Walk at Jerry Lawrence Provincial Park - Sunday, June 2, 2013
The Warbler Walk is an annual event at Jerry Lawrence Provincial Park sponsored by the Five Bridges Wilderness Heritage Trust.

Hans Toom will lead the Warbler Walk on Sunday, June 2 at 7a.m.  Please meet Hans at the parking lot inside the park rain or shine. For more information or to RSVP, please contact Hans at: htoom@eastlink.ca

Hike of Bluff Wilderness Trail – Sunday, June 9, 2013

Five Bridges Wilderness Heritage Trust will lead a hike of the first loop of the Bluff Wilderness Trail on Sunday, June 9 at 1:00 pm.  We will meet in the parking area at the trail head, located approximately 2km from exit 4 of Highway 103.  Everyone is welcome to participate in a leisurely hike, approximately three hours in length, weather permitting. 

The Bluff Trail is located in the recently protected Five Bridge Lakes Wilderness Area.  The trail was constructed by Woodens River Watershed Environmental Organization.  Further information on the trail, including detailed directions to the trail head, can be found at www.wrweo.ca/BluffTrail. 

For more information, please contact Jill Pulsifer at pulsifer.j@gmail.com.

Indoor Yard Sale - Sat. May 11 - PRCC

CHA is sponsoring our second annual INDOOR yard sale!
It’s a guaranteed dry spot to sell your items!

• We will be advertising for this event. 
• $5 table rental (at the door - no pre-booking needed). 
• First come first served for tables - we have the whole gym so lots of room and plenty of tables for all. 
• Set-up is at 8am. 
• Doors Open at 8:30am.
• Tear down will take place between 1pm and 2pm.
• Click here to visit the Facebook Event

Launch of the Plants of The Bluff Wilderness Hiking Trail

Download The Digi Version

Five Bridges Wilderness Heritage Trust is thrilled to release the second edition of the Plants of The Bluff Wilderness Hiking Trail.

An official launch will be held in the community room at the Tantallon Public Library at 7p.m. on Wednesday, May 8, 2013.

The Plants brochure was first published in 2005 by Five Bridges Wilderness Heritage Trust .Two Dalhousie Biology students Krystle Olsen and Dave Mealia under supervision of Dr. Mark Johnston completed the field work and compiled the first brochure with line drawings.

The second edition of the brochure has full colour photos and descriptions of 17 of the most common plants found along the Bluff Wilderness Hiking Trail located within the Five Bridge Lakes Wilderness Area.  The photos were provided by Ms. Olsen, Mr. Mealia, Dr. Johnston, David Patriquin and Catherine King.

 

Everyone is welcome to attend the official launch on May 8 and pick up a copy of the new brochure. 

Prospect Road Community Clean Up May 4th

Hi everyone, 

Time for a reminder to everyone that the Prospect Road Community Clean Up is coming back this May.  The cleanup will be May 4th, which is shortly after Earth Day.  
  
Areas organized and covered each year usually include Terence Bay area, Brookside area, McDonald Lake area, Bayview, Sandstone, Prospect area, and the East Dover area.  If you live in an area not listed but would like to be included please contact us.  As well The Prospect Road Lions Club, Citizen`s on Patrol and the local Scout troop will be cleaning from the start of the Prospect Road into Goodwood and are willing to have volunteers help them with that long stretch of road even if you are not available for the entire time.

Rubber gloves and garbage bags are provided by Clean Nova Scotia and TIR.  These can be  distributed to groups or individuals ahead of time.  Sharp containers and recycle bags are also available.

If you are interested in helping to organize in your community the start time for your group is entirely up to you but most groups start at 9am.  If you are looking for a place to clean just let us know.  Feel free to share this message with those that you know.  I can be reached at jollimp@halifax.ca to assist you in planning action in your community.

As we did last year we are able to have the midday clean up community BBQ at the Prospect Road Community Centre.  The BBQ will begin at noon and run for about an hour.  A couple of groups have offered to help with this part, thank you to them.  

A final note on the pick up of the garbage.  TIR (formerly Dept of Highways and DOT) will be removing the trash after the cleanup but they need to know where it is located.  Please remember to let us know where the piles are so I can share the locations with TIR.

The Brookside Community Homeowners Association is continuing the theme of clean up the following weekend.  Instead of the parks and ditches they are holding a community yard sale at the Prospect Road Community Centre on May 11th for those still looking to their closets and garages.  For more information on the yard sale contact Valerie at info@bcha.ca.

Thanks for your continued support of your community. 

Sincerely,
Peter Jollimore
876-4363
jollimp@halifax.ca

COCO meeting April 4, 7pm at Hubley Centre

Friends,

This is a reminder that the Council of Community Organizations (COCO) will meet on April 4 at 7pm at the Hubley Center, 4408 St. Margaret's Bay Road, Lewis Lake.

As you may know, HRM is proposing changes to the operation of the Otter Lake Landfill that potentially could have environmental impacts and other concerns for the community. These proposed changes do not comply with agreements made with the public in 1995 during the consultations and planning for the operation of the Otter Lake Landfill site.

We are very pleased that Ken Donnelly will attend the April 4 COCO meeting to present the Community Monitoring Committee's position on HRM's proposed changes to the environmental and community protection elements of the Otter Lake Landfill.

Here is a link to an editorial by Deputy Mayor Reg Rankin, which was recently published in the Chronicle Herald explaining the issues with the proposed changes.  http://thechronicleherald.ca/opinion/1114283-confidence-in-council-at-risk

You are also invited to sign an online petition opposing the changes, which was created by Iain Rankin.  The petition can be found at http://tinyurl.com/c87s84k.

Regular updates from community groups will take place following Mr. Donnelly's presentation.  For further information please contact Beth McGee at 823-2245 or John Cascadden at 852-4886.

We hope you can join us for this important meeting.

Yours truly,

Afton Doubleday

Secretary, FBWHT

Lovers Cove Park - Spotlight

Lovers Cove Park 
#58 Cathy Road (View Map)
Picnic Shelter, Picnic Tables, Walking Path, Canoe/Kayak Launch, Swimming, Skating, Sledding

Named after the official NS Geographic place name “Lovers Cove”, this is one of our newly developed park areas in the community.

Located at #58 Cathy Rd, we think of Lovers Cove as THE “picnic park” of the community.  In the last few years, we’ve installed a gorgeous covered picnic shelter to promote this very use.

Along with our shaded picnic area, we’ve been working on opening access to the lake for skating in the winter or launching a canoe/kayak in the summer. In 2012 we put significant work into the trail leading to the lake and created another picnic area in the shade close to the lake. We’ve noticed lots of folks using this area to cast some fishing lines into the lake and take a dip into the deep lake access at this park.

Plans have been finalized for mid-late Spring this year to improve and define the parking lot and entrance. Keep your eyes peeled for this construction to start as soon as the weight restrictions are lifted from the roads!

CROWN LANDS AND COMMUNITY FORESTS

The Province is conducting public consultations on what should happen to the Crown Land in Western Nova Scotia. (see detailed notes below meeting dates).

These hearings will be key to our 

1. establishing community forests in the former Bowater-Mersey St. Margaret's District and the Medway  District, and 
2. determining how the Crown Lands, our birthright, will be managed. 

IF YOU CARE ABOUT  COMMUNITY FORESTS OR HAVE CONCERNS ABOUT THESE CROWN LANDS, PLEASE  ATTEND ONE OR MORE OF THESE CONSULTATIONS, WRITE LETTERS, GET PRESS, LEAVE COMMENTS HERE – and above all MAKE YOUR VIEWS KNOWN! 

 

THE CONSULTATIONS START TONIGHT IN SHELBURNE... spread the word!

All meetings will be 5-8 PM. 

Date: March 18
County: Shelburne
Community: Shelburne
Venue: Shelburne Fire Hall & Community Center
Civic Address: 63 King Street, Shelburne

View Larger Map

Date: March 19
County: Hants
Community: Windsor
Venue: Windsor Legion Hall
Civic Address: 35 Empire Lane, Windsor

View Larger Map

Date: March 25
County: Digby
Community: Saulnierville
Venue: Saulnierville Legion Hall
Civic Address: 9938 Rte #1, Saulnierville

View Larger Map

Date: March 26
County: Yarmouth
Community: Yarmouth
Venue: Yarmouth Legion Hall
Civic Address: 75 Parade Street, Yarmouth

View Larger Map

Date: April 2
County: Annapolis
Community: Cornwallis
Venue: Desmond Piers Building Annapolis Basin Conference Center
Civic Address: 268 Marine Drive, Cornwallis Park

View Larger Map

Date: April 3
County: Kings
Community: Berwick
Venue: Berwick & District Fire Hall
Civic Address: 300 Commercial St., Berwick

View Larger Map

Date: April 4
County: Lunenburg
Community: West Northfield
Venue: Northfield District Fire Hall
Civic Address: 2233 Hwy #10 West Northfield

View Larger Map

Date: April 8
County: Halifax
Community: Black Point
Venue: Black Point Fire Hall
Civic Address: 8579 St. Margarets Bay Rd., Black Point

View Larger Map

Date: April 9
County: Queens
Community: Greenfield
Venue: Greenfield Recreation Center
Civic Address: 5048 Hwy 210, Greenfield

 

Western Crown Lands Consultation “Asks”

• Follow through on commitments to establish community forests. Experiences in Community Forestry throughout Canada have proven that giving communities direct control of public forests will increase environmental performance and generate more community benefits. For more information check out the exciting projects proposed by the Medway Community Forest Co-operative and the St Margaret’s Bay Community Forest.  
• Add lands proposed through the Parks and Protected Areas Plan to the protected areas network: Western Nova Scotia is home to ecologically important tracts of old forest, rare plants and valuable endangered species habitats. Many of these lands have already been identified for protection through the Colin Stewart Forest Forum and the resulting Nova Scotia Environment’s protected areas plan but are now listed as “conditional” pending the results of the Western Crown Land public consultation. Those valuable lands need our support! In particular there are 30,000 acres on former Bowater lands (now owned by the province) that were promised by the minister for protection but are now listed as “conditional”. It appears government may be trying to claw back these areas into general Crown land so they don’t get protected and can be open to harvesting instead. Folks need to specifically speak up for the protection of these lands in both the Parks and Protected Areas Plan AND (perhaps more importantly), the Western Crown Lands consultation process.
• Require FSC Certification for all forestry licenses: The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Certification is the only forest certification system endorsed by environmental groups. Requiring certification for all forest licenses is the best measure available to ensure that forest management meets the highest standards for environmental protection and public consultation.
• Seek the best value from our forest resources by focusing on value-added industries: The fibre agreement with Port Hawkesbury Paper has allowed that mill to control all the wood supply from Crown land in the entire of eastern end of the province - even for products they do not actually use! This model simply can’t be applied in western NS, where as many as 15 different mills have traditionally sourced wood from the former Bowater lands alone. In order to ensure we get the best value from our forests and ultimately support a more vibrant, diverse and resilient forest economy, government must devise a tenure system that allows more mills into the market for Crown wood, with a strict focus on saw mills and value-added manufacturers, while ensuring that total harvest levels remain well within the limits of ecosystem-based forestry.
• Make public engagement a requirement of forest licensees. Many tools are available to facilitate better transparency and collaboration with respect to forest management on Crown lands, such as the interactive online mapping tool used in the protected areas consultation. Nova Scotians should be given on-going opportunities to participate in collaborative management of Crown lands and greater efforts should be made to provide transparency and accountability of industries that operate on our public lands.
• Don’t give all the wood away through long term license agreements:– British Columbia is allocating up to 10% of its annual cut from Crown land to help prove stumpage rates.  Nova Scotia should follow suit and keep our options open for new wood uses, innovative value-added manufacturers and new community forestry projects. 
• Enforce meaningful forest practice reforms: The government’s once promising clearcut reduction policy has been sidelined by a weak definition of what doesn’t constitute a clearcut. Any policy aimed at reducing clearcutting and moving the province towards true ecologically-based forest management must specifically endorse and facilitate the shift towards uneven-aged management – where a standing, intact forest ecosystem remains in place following partial harvesting.

Thanks for your support of the Community Forest concept!. 

Geoff Le Boutillier

St. Margaret's Bay Community Forest

680 Indian Point Rd.

Glen Haven, NS

B3Z 2T7

902-823-1404

Fax: 902-821-2115

Campbell Point Park - Spotlight

Campbell Point Park
#187 Lakewood Drive
HRM Swimming Lessons & Lifeguards, Sandy Beach, Volleyball Court, Woodland Trails
(View Map)

If you’re looking for an easy way to enjoy our lakes this summer, check out Campbell Point Park!

To access the beach, you can park at #187 Lakewood Drive (parking lot or street parking) and, in a 4-minute walk down the gravel driveway, you’ll find our lake front beach! Very popular with families in our community, this sandy beach area offers easy shallow-water access to swim in the lake. This beach has lifeguards during the summer and also offers swimming lessons (Register through HRM Rec or call 420-SWIM). There are many shady spots to spread a blanket and enjoy a day at the beach.  You can also string up a net at the beach volleyball court for a friendly game of volleyball or badminton with friends or go hiking through the network of woodland trails that traverse the adjoining woods (remembering that private property is next to the park).

You'll meet all kinds of families enjoying the water here both daytime and evening in the summer!

Be sure to pop in and join the fun!

Spotlight on Brookside Parks: Yeadon Green

Hello Fellow Brooksiders!

We’ve had a very successful year with the Brookside Community Homeowner's Association Facebook Group this year.  It’s grown so quickly!!  Don’t forget to invite your neighbors if they aren’t on here yet!

With so many new residents to the area and Spring finally approaching, we thought it would be a great time to let you know what our community has to offer to your families!

Over the next month, we’ll be posting a series of information/photo packages to promote our beautiful parks, playgrounds and open spaces in Brookside. For over 20 years, the BCHA has worked hard to develop park lands that offer a variety of uses. We’re excited to share!

Yeadon Green Park, #20 Northcliffe Drive
Playground, Bicycle/Walking Trail and Picnic Park
(View Map)
Nestled in the woods at #20 Northcliffe Drive, Yeadon Green Park is best known for it’s gorgeous new playground and walking trail loop to McGrath’s Lake. The brand new playground was installed in December of 2011 and is kid-tested and approved! It is rated for 18 months-12 year olds.  There are some benches and picnic tables to relax and watch your kids play.

We’re working on improving signage at the park this summer because we discovered that most people didn’t realize there is a walking/biking loop from the playground that leads down to the lake front!  It includes a boardwalk and an extra large picnic table to enjoy the lake view! The kids sure love the little trail walk to the lake, be sure to explore this park, it has something for everybody! Important side note: Strollers with larger wheels can make it around this entire trail!

As always, we’d love to hear your feedback on our parks!

Stay tuned later this week for our next spotlight!