More Golf Planned For Cape Breton, Nova Scotia
Work has already begun on a new golf course in the Little Judique Ponds area, or at least the beginnings of a new 18 hole golf course.
Located on the west shore of Cape Breton Island looking to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Toronto developer John Robert Fraser is eyeing a new golf course on recently acquired land, as first reported by CBC. The property, totalling nearly 300 acres with roughly 3,500 yards of oceanfront property, has already had visits from golf course architects to view the site, although we have not heard any specific names through our backend channels.
A potential architect’s selection could be Thomas McBroom. John Robert Fraser is co-owner of Öviinbyrd, the swanky Muskoka private club ranked 14th in Canada on Beyond The Contour‘s 2022/2023 list. Ö is generally regarded as McBroom’s magnum opus, and a good reference point for his prowess as an architect.
As referenced in the CBC article, the land Mr. Fraser owns is not currently zoned and would not be subject to any approvals from the municipality. The Department of Environment added they would only have to get involved in approvals if the golf course impacts more than 5 acres of wetlands. Clearing for the project began in 2022.
Little Judique Ponds is about two and a half hours from Halifax Airport, and 35 minutes south of Cabot Cape Breton. Cabot’s proposed third golf course at Mabou Harbour is situated in between the two.
This is what Cabot should be doing–acquiring privately-owned land, rather than trying to build a golf course on publicly-owned park land. The opposition to Cabot’s proposal in Mabou Harbour is intense and only growing. It is local, province-wide, nation-wide, and international. The “Save West Mabou Beach” petition at Change.org has over 25,000 signatures as of Dec. 21. See the “Inverness Oran” and the “Halifax Chronicle Herald,” for excellent citizen letters and reporting on why Cabot’s proposal to lease park land and build a golf course here in Mabou Harbour should be rejected.
–Cynthia Baughman, resident of Mabou Harbour
Cabot’s attempt to gut West Mabou Beach Provincial Park is typical of the unconsciousionable way they do business- walk into a community that has a much used and loved legally protected natural environment park and try , for the second time, to literally take it for their own. Great people, eh?
Hi Nadine,
This is a different project than Cabot’s Mabou proposal. This is about 20 minutes south, closer to Hawkesbury