| SOS NEWS August 12, 2002 Ladco Begins Royalwood Phase II As announced in their press release of June 18/02 Ladco has begun preliminary work on Phase II of the Royalwood housing development. As wheat ripens in the fields of St. Boniface signs of the builder�s activities are everywhere. Shattered trees at the Southglen clear-cut still lay like a giant whale�s bones at the forest�s edge. Just south of that devastation a large area of mulch-laden topsoil lays fallow in the sun, all signs of vegetation killed by Roundup. A wide, cleared road laid through the golden fields joins this future lakebed with another fallow area south of John Bruce Rd. A wellhead has been sunk into the aquifer. Agricultural drainage ditches have been filled in with earthen fill pocked with rubble and re-bar. With the approval of the City of Winnipeg the rough outlines of the future Shorehill Drive extension stand revealed. One would almost think that Ladco had finalized its development plan with the City, cleared all hurdles and was on its way to create housing and jobs, as promised in their press release. The reality is that Ladco has not presented their development plan to the Riel Community Committee. Despite this they have not lost a precious building season. Citing �environmental need� they are doing work preparatory to beginning actual lake construction next year. Save Our Seine applauds Ladco�s co-operative work with fellow organizations like Ducks Unlimited, and their co-operation with the City Naturalist�s department. But one wonders why Ladco mentions preserving only 88 of the 89 acres in question. Would that missing acre happen to be directly opposite Southglen Boulevard? How complete are Ladco�s development plans, and what other interim agreements have been made with the city? While SOS realizes Ladco�s need for a low profile at this time they have not sent so much as a fax to SOS since last April. Like the public SOS remains a curious bystander, albeit one expected to raise $600,00 to give to Ladco by next New Year |