September 29, 2005 - Halifax - NDP critic for Service Nova Scotia and Municipal Affairs, Graham Steele, says that public access to the coastline may become as rare in Nova Scotia as it now is in Connecticut if the Hamm government doesn’t step in soon.

Steele's comments follow another New York Times real estate feature last Sunday, The Allure of Buying Your Own Private Land which referred to the province's growing reputation as a source for bargain basement coastal lands and islands. Steele is concerned that without government action, the people of this province could lose access to the coastlines as rapidly as has occurred in many US states.

"No one in Connecticut goes to the beach, because most of the coast is privately owned," says Steele. "Towns are now staking out the ends of roads and the ends of streets to just open up some public access to the water."

"Do we want to end up there?"

"Realtors in Nova Scotia are telling us that more and more Americans are buying up very large tracts of the shore."

Steele believes that the provincial government must begin tracking and making public the proportion of Nova Scotia land passing into foreign and private ownership, and the effect this is having on public access to the coastline. Once this data is available, he maintains, government can begin the development of a long-term plan to protect public access to our coast.

"Realtors in New York City know more than this Minister does about how much of Nova Scotia’s coastline is passing into private hands," says Steele. "The sales pitch is that our coast and our islands are cheap, and that there is no control over foreign ownership."

"I am not so sure we should be proud of that reputation."