Cabot Cape Breton CEO makes first public comments about West Mabou

The CEO of Cabot Cape Breton was on CBC Radio this morning.

This would be Ben Cowen-Dewar's first comments about the proposed golf course development in West Mabou.

CBFM was the first to report this news in October.

Cowen-Dewar told Information Morning Cape Breton that his company's experience building two courses in the nearby community of Inverness, shows it's possible to strike a balance between protecting the fragile ecosystem in the park and sparking economic development.

"I understand the sensitivity and I think if we can look at recreation as one of the mandates of the park system and maintaining access and using the same soft footprint we have in building golf on the west coast of Cape Breton, I think those things can peacefully coexist as we've shown just up the road,"

"Is there a case in Nova Scotia where golf has been built and protected sand dunes?

There is and it's 20 kilometers up the road from West Mabou."

Cowen-Dewar also mentioned that golf courses already exist in parks.

Highlands Links, Green Gables, Fundy National and Banff Springs are a few examples.

Environmental experts say the coastal dune system and the beach at West Mabou are home to 18 rare or endangered birds, plants and lichens.

Cowan-Dewar says he has heard those comments, but they are not the only ones commenting on the proposal.

"I also hear from tons of people who have seen the hundreds of jobs we've created, the enormous investment we've made in Cape Breton.

We work hard every day to be a great employer and give back to the community and I think that means being a great ecological steward of the land and being a sensitive corporation to the communities in which we operate."

Cowen-Dewar told the CBC that a proposal has not been submitted to the government...yet.