Brossard and the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal sign an agreement in principle to create a metropolitan agricultural park.
The Ville de Brossard and the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal (CMM) announce an agreement in principle for the creation of a metropolitan agricultural park. Dedicated to local production, this park will be built on a site adjacent to Brossard station, the terminal station of the Réseau express métropolitain (REM) on the South Shore, and near Bois de Brossard.
The creation of the metropolitan agricultural park is part of the Plan métropolitain de développement agricole (PMAD), which aims to ensure the sustainability of agricultural land and activities, by making fallow land around the Brossard station accessible to new farmers. Acting as a showcase for the dynamism of the metropolitan agricultural sector, this park will encourage the emergence of innovative peri-urban agricultural projects, while supporting the social economy and efforts to achieve greater food self-sufficiency.
“This park will not only enhance agricultural activities and increase the overall area of cultivated land in Greater Montreal, an important objective of the Plan métropolitain d’aménagement et de développement, but its establishment will also help bring urban and rural communities closer together by promoting public access to local agricultural products, as well as limiting urban sprawl around the terminal station,” said Massimo Iezzoni, General Manager of the CMM.
“For several years now, Ville de Brossard has been redoubling its efforts to ensure the sustainability of its natural environments and make them more accessible to the public,” said Mayor Doreen Assaad. “This historic agreement for the preservation of agricultural and natural environments is the result of unprecedented cooperation between CDPQ Infra, the Union des producteurs agricoles (UPA), the CMM and the City of Brossard. The proximity of this new metropolitan agricultural park to the Bois de Brossard, one of Montérégie’s great ecological treasures, opens the way to the deployment of promising projects resulting from the synergy between these areas dedicated to local production and the preservation of our environment”, continued the mayor.
The next step is to acquire over 20 hectares of land at fair market value. The Ville de Brossard and the CMM will then work closely together to ensure the realization of the metropolitan agricultural park, notably for the development of the site, the establishment of a governance structure, and the operation and planning of activities to be held there.
About the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal
Created in 2001, the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal (CMM) is a planning, coordinating and financing body that brings together 82 municipalities, representing 4.1 million people spread over an area of more than 4,360 km2. The CMM is responsible for land use planning, economic development, social housing, public transit and the environment. For more details: www.cmm.qc.ca.
