What Good is Designating Land as Protected if it's Just Given Away?

Letter to the Editor by Nella MacHattie The Inverness Oran - October 22, 2025

Dear Editor, As a very grateful student of Beinn Mhàbu, I feel compelled to contribute to the conversation around Cabot's proposed development in West Mabou. During my years here I've grown quite attached to this com- munity. I also feel a strong sense of responsibility to protect what makes it so special. That's why I, like many others, feel deeply concerned about Cabot's designs for a golf course development in West Mabou Beach Provincial Park.

The land in question is an environmentally protected provincial park. This fact alone should be enough to end the debate. What good is designating land as protected only to hand it over to a private developer? The government should deem this plan a non-starter, but since it has not, the residents of Mabou have been left to suffer the insecurity of not knowing what will happen to their community.

The heart of Mabou lies in the compassion, resilience and commitment of those who call it home. It's painful to see this community feel excluded from such an important decision. The persistent efforts to develop this land without community consent wears on the spirit of this place, a treasure too rare to lose. To see a community that has given so much of itself divided and hurt by this process is heartbreaking. The strength of Mabou has always been in the way people show up for each other, and this development threatens that unity.

Nobody wants to see friends and family have to move away for work, and indeed, many rural communities suffer from this. Working to create opportunities that keep young people home is a noble pursuit, but it can't be achieved by losing sight of what makes this place truly worth staying for. The West Mabou Provincial Park already draws many people to this area; many of whom would be excluded if the place became a golf course. What Mabou has, and what keeps people coming back, is a breathtaking land- scape and a living, breathing culture. To take this park and turn it into an exclusive space with high fees and private access is to trade away something sacred for commercial gain. It risks diluting the very culture that draws people to Mabou in the first place.

The people and the land are what makes Mabou what it is, and this project doesn't protect either. My hope is for a future rooted in respect for this land, care for one another, and a belief that what already exists here is worth protecting.

Sincerely,

Nella MacHattie 

Third-year Beinn Mhàbu student