Residents in the Pierrefonds-Roxboro borough are concerned about a high number of trees that were destroyed to make room for a real estate project.
The land in question is on Gouin Boulevard right near the l’Anse-à-l’Orme park. Neighbours who live in the area said they were caught by surprise and want answers, claiming part of the area is a wetland.
Gilles Paquin, who visited the area a few weeks ago, said he saw the workers on the private property.
“So I asked the people, ‘What are you doing?’ They told me, ‘We have to make a driveway so we have some trees — 17 trees — to chop down,’” he told Global News.
He said he couldn’t understand why anyone would destroy trees.
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“So I phoned the arrondissement Pierrefond-Roxboro to tell them that somebody’s destroyed the forest,” he recalled.
According to him, since the clear-cutting occurred on the weekend no inspectors arrived until Monday, but by then all the trees had already been felled. He said he and others who fought to create l’Anse-à-l’Orme park are dismayed that this is now happening.
In a statement, borough of Pierrefonds-Roxboro spokesperson Marie-Pier Cloutier said they authorized the company to remove 32 trees.
“However, she wrote, “the Borough of Pierrefonds-Roxboro has noted that a greater number of trees were felled than it had initially been authorized on the applicant’s property. The situation is under investigation by Borough services.”
“We cannot estimate the number of exceeding felled trees as we are conducting the investigation.”
She concluded, saying the company will be penalized.
The developer could not be reached for comment, but residents say they are considering starting a petition to stop the entire project.
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