Residents protest tree cutting near Tewin development in Ottawa's southeast end

Ottawa residents are speaking out against plans to cut down a large swath of trees in the rural southeast end of the city near the Tewin lands.

"All the trees have been cut in many, many of these areas. You can see it in aerial photos," Carlsbad Springs resident Monica Brewer said on Sunday. 

Brewer has lived in the area for decades and was surprised to learn hundreds of trees were cut down near the edge of land in the area of Anderson and Piperville roads. 

"They’ve gone ahead and taken a piece of land that a forest has been for 50 years and clear-cut it," she said. "A lot of animals and plants live there, we believe clear-cutting is not the right thing to do."

On Sunday, a rally was held to call for a stop to the clear-cutting around the Tewin development and demand the city strengthen its tree protection bylaw. It was hosted by Ecology Ottawa, Greenspace Alliance, Community Associations for Environmental Sustainability, Horizon Ottawa and residents living in Carlsbad Springs.

Tewin is the site of a future suburb that is expected to house 45,000 new residents. The Algonquins of Ontario own the land and are working with Taggart to develop the community they say is rooted in Indigenous values.

In February, a stop-work order was in place, halting the tree-cutting operations. The city said at that time no permit was obtained to remove the trees. Even though the area being clear-cut is not part of the development, residents said they're still concerned.

“We lost so many trees, maybe 30 per cent of our trees last year in the big storm in May," Ottawa resident Mike Vorobej said. "We were told this development would be environmentally sensitive but all of a sudden trees are disappearing from the woods in the middle of the night."

The city said its investigation revealed developers cleared the trees for future farming activities, exempting them from the tree protection bylaw.

Tree cutting is expected to resume, but many here are hoping for more accountability from the developers and the city.

"The tree protection bylaw came out in 2021, this is its first test," said William van Geest with Ecology Ottawa. “We need the city to step in, tighten the bylaw, clarify and prevent any more destruction on this scale."

The city says staff will continue monitoring the site to make sure the developer holds up its commitments. Anyone found violating the tree protection bylaw could be fined up to $100,000.