The 1,400 acre Vision Lands are among the last undeveloped parcels of land in the City of Moncton.
Despite mostly private ownership, Moncton mayor Dawn Arnold said council is committed to protecting those lands.
“Obviously, there are federal and provincial laws in place regarding wetlands and watercourses. So the brook will be preserved… and the wetland,” she noted.
“If anyone has driven along Wheeler Boulevard during a storm event with high water, that area is the biggest sponge around.”
Under an existing federal program, Arnold said Ottawa wants to create at least one national urban park in each province.
She believes the Vision Lands would check all the boxes of the program’s criteria.
Arnold envisions eventually connecting that area to Irishtown Nature Park.
The Vision Lands covers about 1,400 acres of largely undeveloped land bordering Mapleton Road, Wheeler Boulevard, McLaughlin Drive and the Trans-Canada Highway.
The eastern portion has already been planned or is being developed.
