ClubLink to appeal court decision on Kanata golf course

ClubLink has appealed the Ontario Superior Court decision to uphold a 40-year-old agreement that stated the Kanata Lakes Golf and Country Club must remain open space.

The appeal, filed to the Court of Appeal for Ontario on Friday, comes two weeks after the lower court sided with the City of Ottawa after a two year battle to prevent the property owner, ClubLink, from turning the golf course into a development, alongside its partners Minto Communities and Richcraft Homes.

At the heart of the case are the facts of a 1981 agreement — which has been updated several times, including when ClubLink bought the property 23 years ago — between the then City of Kanata and the operator at the time.

That agreement called for 40 per cent of the area in Kanata Lakes to be open space in perpetuity. It also laid out guidelines about land use and ownership if the original owner of the golf course decided to get out of the business.

In his decision last month, Ontario Superior Court Justice Marc Labrosse found the agreement remains valid.