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Watching the re-wilding of the old Bally Haly golf course over the past couple of years has been a delight. Without all the mowing, herbicides, and pesticides, the biggest green space in the East End has been growing greener. Clusters of flowering plants and long grasses are giving the area a new beauty. Newfoundland’s famous bees are happy. Big flocks of juncoes and other birds are feeding and nesting there. It’s been amazing.
Now the the plan to redevelop the old Bally Haly golf course has been released. Was it a coincidence that it came out just after the municipal and provincial elections? Probably, but both the redevelopment plan and the electoral platforms have something in common: almost no mention of the environment, even after the terrifying and destructive wildfires that burned surrounding houses and encroached on St. John’s this summer. Former premier John Hogan called it an “all hands on deck” emergency, and that’s actually how we should be talking about the environment more generally in a time of climate change and climate crisis. Now is the right time to be thinking of how our built environment could help us with resilience against the crisis, and this redevelopment can be part of the solution. We might not think we have to worry about it here just yet, so close to the chilly Atlantic ocean, but we have the potential for dangerous urban heat concentrations as absorptive surfaces such as asphalt collect the sun’s rays. It's already been reported as a problem in Halifax. Putting up typical new apartments and houses while installing air conditioners to deal with the heat is a bandage solution. In fact, we need to be thinking about how we build, not only what we build and where. Adaptive reuse of existing buildings in Pleasantville and downtown would make better sense in some cases, partly because of proximity to downtown, but new constructions that are built to higher environmental standards are key. If we can conserve energy through design and materials, we can improve the balance of environmental concerns and social concerns related to housing affordability. Yes, we have a housing crisis too, and we have, as Hope Jamieson wrote, "a protectionist desire to preserve the status quo for existing homeowners at the expense of those feeling the pinch of the tight housing market." I know this post can be read as NYMBYism, and I don't want to be a part of that problem without being part of a different solution for the environment. Ideally, I don't want the either/or situation. We shouldn't let a progressive agenda be divided into competing issues. But I think we can have a definite boost to available, affordable, sustainable housing without a near-total loss of the implicated green space. The old Bally Haly land is big enough, at 117 acres, to do both, while serving the interests of investors too. I’d love to see a really accessible, re-wilded park in the plan. It would be a legacy for the Dobbin family if they worked with the City to create a Dobbin Park that would give the East End a green heritage zone, something comparable with Bannerman Park in the city centre and Bowering Park in the West End. (It’s an environmental equity problem for the City not to consider the imbalance of parks here.) I’d much prefer that to the loss of almost all the green space, which is currently in the proposal. As the manager of the golf course said, “That is in the hands of the purchaser.” Some of my neighbours have said the same: the land is private property, and the developers can do what they want. But we have regulations and consultations for a reason: the public has a stake in it, not only for the sake of much-needed housing in St. John’s but also for the sake of a healthy environment in the future. It’s important to know that almost any big privately owned green space might be used, on the down-low, by the public. The old Bally Haly golf course currently supports joggers, dog walkers, playing kids, and, in winter, also skiiers, snow-shoers, and tobogganers. In reality, it’s a semi-public site that serves a public interest or a public good, and that’s important. In casual conversation with some of my neighbours, the idea came up that a green belt along the west side of the redevelopment (the Logy Bay Road side, not the Virginia River side). A green belt on that side would conserve the trees and grasses behind existing houses while providing a new loop that would allow walkers and runners to avoid the busy Logy Bay Road and enjoy a way back up to the junction at Logy Bay Road and Fairwood. A green belt is a great idea because it would get way more neighbours on board for the redevelopment (partly because it might protect our own property values), and it would serve as an at least temporary habitat for other animals. Green belts have been a part of new thinking about growing cities in Canada and beyond. Continuous green spaces in cities can also create wildlife corridors, which are not only good for animals on the ground (including people). Birds and butterflies appreciate stretches of green, too, according to Parks Canada, which endorses “ecological connectivity." That's a goal that’s good for all of us. Starting tonight at the City's Committee of the Whole meeting (Oct. 28), let's talk more with each other about the green belt as part of a legacy project that would enable a compromise between more housing and green space. It can be a win-win situation, and we can hash it out during the developer's consultation and the public consultation to follow. It can work for investors, existing home owners, future owners and renters, and everyone implicated in climate change--and that truly is everyone. Works Cited
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AuthorJoel Deshaye is a professor of Canadian literature with an interest in publics, publicity, celebrity, mass media, and popular culture. Categories
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October 2025
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