BEACONSFIELD - New ‘no trespassing' signs in Beaconsfield's Angell Woods have many worried the private land is about to be developed.
Hundreds of people trek through the 80 hectares of land between Highways 20 and 40 every week, and many of them say they are disappointed to see the new signs.
"I feel sad that my access to the woods will be blocked, but I can understand (the owners') perspective," said Beaconsfield resident Lina Dixon.
Roughly half of Angell Woods has been privately owned since the 1950s, though attempts to develop the land over the years have been stymied.
In a statement to Beaconsfield residents, the private owners say the issue has been frustrating.
"We have been paying taxes on this property as developable land for all those decades, but have been blocked by the city from selling or developing," the statement read.
Conservationists argue the woods should be preserved as part of a West Island green belt from Cap St-Jacques to Beaconsfield.
Owned in part in by the Quebec government, the cities of Montreal and Beaconsfield, Ducks Unlimited and the Association for the Protection of Angell Woods, conservationists say Angell Woods has the largest wetland and only old-growth forest on the island of Montreal.
"Right now the situation of Angell Woods is not satisfactory for anybody. The land owners are frustrated, and the conservation groups are frustrated," said Marie-Helene Gauthier, from the Association for the Protection of Angell Woods.
In the letter that accompanies the 'no trespassing' sign, the Angell Woods landowners highlight the conflict that has existed for years between developers and conservationists, which conservationists see as a possible opening to purchasing the land.
"The last time that it happened, a couple of months later we had a deal," said Gauthier.
Beaconsfield Mayor David Pollock agrees.
"I think that it is a sign that they would like to work out an arrangement," he said.
But in their statement, the private owners said that's not so.
"The City of Beaconsfield and its allies in Montreal and among the non-profit environmental groups do not have the funds to purchase the land," it reads.
Pollock said that isn't stopping conservationists from continuing the fight.
"I think it's increasingly doable. I think more and more people want to have more greenspace preserved," he said.
