Proponents say fight to save local golf course from housing development not over, despite court ruling

The ongoing court battle to put houses on fairways in Kanata Lakes is one step closer after a superior court ruling cleared a path for development by golf course owner ClubLink.

But for some community members, and city officials, the fight is far from over.

• The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App
• Sign up now for our nightly CTV News Ottawa newsletter

The greens remain pristine on a sunny autumn day at the Kanata Lakes golf course. It's one of the many reasons Mike Bryson and his wife purchased a home in the neighbourhood.

"We moved in about five years ago and we love it here," he says. "I golf a lot; we're retired now and the clubhouse is 800 metres from my home."

While Bryson, a club member, tees-off on a regular basis, the course doubles as a year-round green space for the entire community to enjoy.

"My grandkids play hockey on the pond in the winter, people cross-country ski; in the summertime, people are using the paths to walk around," says Bryson. "I can't imagine that they will ever put a bulldozer to some of those fairways and fill in those ponds and lakes."

Golfers have been pitching and putting at the Kanata Lakes golf course since 1968. In 1996, the property was purchased by ClubLink, which remains the current owner and plans to replace golf with nearly 1,500 new homes.

For years, the city of Ottawa and community residents have been facing off in court to stop the development. At the centre of the debate, a 1981 agreement that set aside 40 per cent of the area's development to green space, which is the golf course.

But on Oct. 13, an Ontario superior court of justice ruled in favour of ClubLink, saying the corporation should not be 'saddled with the perpetual obligation' to run a golf course.

Barbara Ramsay, chair of the Kanata Greenspace Protection Coalition, says the community battle to save the golf course is not done. Ramsay says the golf course is purpose built to drain large quantities of storm water for the entire Beaverbrook area, which prevents the original homes from flooding.

"It is long, it is arduous, but it is a fight worth having," says Ramsay. "The fight is not completely lost yet. The Kanata Greenspace Protection Coalition, on behalf of our community, is pursuing ClubLink directly with an action based on a restrictive covenant that ClubLink signed when it purchased the property in 1996, which says simply, in two pages, that they agree to not re-grade the property or change its storm water management function."

Ramsay says the decision could be appealable and suspects the city, as a party to the agreement, could do that.

Even with a housing crisis forcing many municipalities to fast-track developments, Kanata North Coun. Cathy Curry says houses cannot be built on the golf course without a plan to manage the stormwater, which is already reaching capacity.

"It's not a matter of everybody wanting more housing and thinking housing may be pleasant there, it's about is there somewhere for the water to go that is safe and won't flood the other houses?" says Curry. "At the end of the day, the city has every ability to stop that development from taking place just based on storm water … they [ClubLink] have yet to come up with a plan. We don't see them coming up with a plan, so that's where we're at, regardless of what the courts say."

ClubLink did not respond to a request for interview by CTV News Ottawa.