The Town of Newmarket today announced that the owner of the Glenway lands, Marianneville Developments Ltd., is donating a portion of the former "west" golf course lands to the Town. The land will be used for the purposes of public parks, open space and trails, as well as to support the existing stormwater management pond facilities. A copy of the press release is attached here.

The donation of this land maintains this area as open and green space, and will benefit residents town-wide. 

In addition to the land donation, Marianneville has agreed to design and construct future trails and related works at its own cost, at a time agreed to with the Town. The trails design and details will be finalized after a public consultation process.

This land donation is a result of on-going discussions between Newmarket's CAO Bob Shelton, and the property owner. As part of the Recreation Master Plan implementation strategy, Council had directed the CAO to initiate discussions with Marianneville, regarding the disposition of the balance of the former golf course lands.

While these lands were not specifically identified in the Recreation Playbook for a particular recreation facility or municipal purpose, they will provide much needed open green space for trails as well as flexibility for future recreational opportunities for all Newmarket residents. 

Marianneville continues to own the balance of the west lands not included in this donation of property. These lands include a woodlot, stormwater management ponds and former golf course fairways. 

At this point, no application to develop this other land has been filed by Marianneville. However, it is important to note that should the owner do so, the development application for some or all of these remaining lands would be subject to the prescribed Planning Act process.

A copy of the complete information report is attached. Of particular interest, please refer to Appendices A, B, C, and D of the report which provide maps of the land donation area, trail locations, other lands already donated, and total lands that will be conveyed to public ownership (ponds and parkland in the developed sections). 

As a strong advocate for the provision of more open green space in Newmarket and specifically Ward 7, I appreciate and value today's announcement of Marianneville's donation, securing this portion of the Glenway lands at no cost for the benefit of our community and all residents in the Town of Newmarket.