• ‘Cart before the horse’: Site prep work approved before development plans in HRM

  Source: Nova Scotia - Halifax & Regional News
  Date: 2026-11-02 22:25:29.0
  Tags: [Nova Scotia, Municipal, Housing, Infrastructure, Environment, Governance]

  The Government of Nova Scotia has approved site preparation work—including tree removal, blasting, and earthwork—at 16 special planning areas within the Halifax Regional Municipality, including the Sandy Lake project in Bedford, prior to the finalization of development plans or public consultation. Housing Minister John White defended the approvals as a proactive measure to address regional housing and traffic challenges along Hammonds Plains Road. Critics, including Ecology Action Centre senior wilderness outreach coordinator Karen McKendry and Halifax Regional Municipality Councillor Kathryn Morse, argue that the 'cart before the horse' provincial intervention undermines municipal planning, circumvents public input, and risks unnecessary environmental degradation of old-growth forests, wetlands, and streams.

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• ‘Just not acceptable’: Backlash grows over Nova Scotia AI data centre project

  Source: Nova Scotia - Halifax & Regional News
  Date: 2026-10-19 20:13:17.0
  Tags: [Nova Scotia, Municipal, Energy, Infrastructure, Technology, Environment]

  Energy and infrastructure company EverWind announced a $10 billion private investment to build a large-scale data centre campus at its existing Point Tupper site near Port Hawkesbury, Nova Scotia, with AI firm Anthropic signed on as a long-term tenant. The project is planned to begin with an initial 95-megawatt phase in late 2027, scaling up to a full development capacity of 420 megawatts by 2028, and includes a $2 billion investment to advance EverWind's onshore wind energy projects. Opposition parties and community advocates are pushing back, demanding an emergency sitting of the Nova Scotia Legislature due to concerns over public consultation, grid reliability, electricity rates, and water resource impacts.

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• Lunenburg water conservation continues after Dares Lake dam breach

  Source: Nova Scotia - Halifax & Regional News
  Date: 2026-09-04 20:59:53.0
  Tags: [Nova Scotia, Municipal, Infrastructure, Emergency, Environment]

  A crack formed in the recently constructed $1 million Dares Lake dam in Lunenburg, N.S., causing a breach that submerged the pump building and interrupted the town's main water supply. Mayor Jamie Myra reported that mandatory water conservation efforts, along with closures of schools like Bluenose Academy and businesses including High Liner Foods, were implemented to prevent the town from running out of water over the Labour Day weekend. As of Friday, two of the three pumps were partially operational, allowing the water utility to slowly recover capacity while provincial officials collaborate with the town to investigate the cause of the failure.

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• ‘211 years of community’: Funding aims to protect Upper Hammonds Plains from wildfires

  Source: Nova Scotia - Halifax & Regional News
  Date: 2026-09-04 19:36:52.0
  Tags: [Nova Scotia, Municipal, Environment, Climate, Emergency, Infrastructure]

  The Government of Nova Scotia is committing $199,000 from its Sustainable Communities Challenge Fund to the Upper Hammonds Plains Community Land Trust. The funding supports wildfire risk assessment and mitigation initiatives, including FireSmart Canada home assessments, community clean-ups, and remediation for 85 historic homes, a church, and other community buildings. The initiative addresses heightened wildfire safety concerns following the 2023 Tantallon wildfire and local emergency egress vulnerabilities identified in a Halifax Regional Municipality staff report.

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