Beaconsfield city council will vote on October 1 to allow development of the oldest forest on the island of Montreal.
Councillors held a special meeting Tuesday night to inform the public there was little else they could do with regards to Angell Woods.
Rhona Massad said the city would like to purchase the land but just does not have the finances to do so.
"We are hoping that the city of Montreal can come and purchase the woods," said the councillor. "We are hoping the provincial government will wake up and realize the value of this ecoterritory, but in the meantime we are trying to find something that will restrain development and at the same time offer the landowners some rights as well."
The Angell Woods is an 80 hectare stretch of land between Highways 20 and 40, half of which is owned by the city of Beaconsfield, the Quebec government, and the city of Montreal. The rest has been privately owned since the 1950s.
At Tuesday's public consultation residents could not believe that trees and wetland had to be destroyed.
"My win-win-win would be... that the residents of Beaconsfield and residents of West Island and region could have the advantage of using that place recreationally," said David Fletcher.
Menashi Mashaal owns part of the land in question, and said his rights also had to be respected.
"I understand the concerns of the conservationists but there are landowner rights which need to be respected. Everything that's happened to this point is basically confiscation of our land rights without any kind of compensation," said Mashaal.
The land is zoned for residential use, and the city says if it must be developed, it will prefer high density housing that preserves as much forest as possible.
