The purpose of this engagement process is to:

• turn the vision of the historic African Nova Scotian (ANS) community into planning policies and actions that reflect UHP’s history, culture and long-term goals;

• ensure community voices are centered early;

• ensure feedback is meaningfully incorporated into decision-making; and

• provide opportunities for both the historic community and the public to review and offer input on draft changes to UHP’s planning documents.

Installation of Fire Hydrants: In the fall of 2025, Halifax Water installed eight fire hydrants along Pockwock Road. These hydrants are located between the Upper Hammonds Plains Community Centre and the intersection of Pockwock Road and White Hills Run. Further enhancements to fire protection will be made as Halifax Water studies potential water service enhancements within the Upper Hammonds Plains community.

Water Pressure Increase/Installation of Pressure Reducing Valves: Halifax Water is enhancing the pressure at the Upper Hammonds Plains Booster Station throughout July 2026 to alleviate low water pressure concerns from residents. ANSCAP and Halifax Water employees can help residents who have persistent water pressure concerns once the booster station adjustments have been completed.

Changes to planning policies to enable community-led development on the Little Pockwock and EBC community nodes: municipal employees are currently working with the UHPVC to prepare draft policies and regulations that will be presented to the community for feedback

Improved Traffic Light System at English Corner: municipal staff have adjusted the traffic light system at English Corner from a single timing plan to a 4-timed plan. This 4-timed plan now speeds up the traffic system to allow better mobility for residents leaving or entering Pockwock Road during peak hours of traffic.

Focused engagement on community nodes: UHPVC and members of the ANSCAP team will conduct engagement with UHP residents in Summer/Fall 2026 to obtain feedback on draft policy concepts to enable community-led development on the Little Pockwock and EBC nodes. Following this, municipal employees and the UHPVC will review and revise the draft policy based on community feedback. Then, municipal employees will write and present a report to Regional Council recommending the adoption of draft policies.

After engagement on community nodes policy is complete, HRM will conduct focused engagement with UHPVC and members of the historic ANS community of UHP on:

changes to zoning on the Melvin Tract Lands

the community vision for UHP to inform future changes to planning policies and regulations, as well as existing and future community action plan priorities.

Municipal internal working group: municipal employees will be convening an internal working group made up of various municipal business units in Fall 2026 to investigate and address the community action plan priorities outlined above wherever possible.

• • upgrade the UHP water main

  • extension of Water Service Area to Uplands Ln. (formerly Saffron Ln.) and boundary adjustments

  • water line expansion to UHPCLT housing co-operative site

  • transit service options
  • development of a second egress (exit/access) route

  • installation of streetlights and a sidewalk on Pockwock Rd.

  • municipal assumption of existing private lanes

  • municipal-owned lands to be transferred to the UHPCLT

Little Pockwock area node

Since 2016, multiple parcels of land situated around Pockwock Road, Uplands Ln. (formerly Saffron Ln.), and Equestrian Ln. have been the focus of housing development in UHP, led by external developers. As part of the UHPCLT's efforts to return lands to the community and promote community-led development, the UHPCLT has begun partnering with local developers for housing. In this regard, the UHPCLT has secured $61.2 million from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) funding to enable the Upper Hammonds Plains Housing Co-operative to deliver 136 affordable housing units for the UHP community. The UHPCLT is also conducting feasibility studies and community visioning to develop 68 acres of Crown land adjacent to the co-op housing. The goal is to promote a mix of different housing options, including low and medium-density residential buildings. Currently, zoning only permits multi-unit housing developments through a development agreement process to ensure that the community and Community Council can consider the impact of large building projects. However, this process poses barriers to community-led development. The Plan Review will initially focus on exploring as-of-right paths to allow land use planning to accommodate the community vision for those parcels.

Emmanuel Baptist Church (EBC) node

Three parcels of land close to the church are being considered for community-led development. The UHPCLT has been working with the community to determine their vision for the lands includes fostering a mix of affordable housing options and daily commercial and service opportunities. Together, the municipality and the UHPCLT are working to enable this vision by making changes to applicable planning policies and land use by-laws.

Melvin Tract Lands

The Melvin Tract Lands include approximately 1000 acres of community-owned land split into Big Melvin and Little Melvin. Community organizations are exploring the potential to develop a solar farm on Big Melvin; however, the existing planning policies do not permit this development. Big Melvin is within the Lake Tomahawk watershed and is zoned Protected Water Supply (PWS). Municipal employees have identified inconsistencies in the provincial and municipal legislation applicable to the Melvin Tract Lands. Halifax Water considers Tomahawk Lake as a future water supply and most Protected Water Supply regulations would only apply to existing, emergency or backup water supplies. Representatives from The Melvin Land Tract Protection Society, Halifax Water and the municipality have been working to find a path forward to enable the community’s desired vision for these lands, this will include making applicable changes to applicable planning policies and land use by-laws.

Community wide vision

Through public engagement, the UHPVC and municipal employees will work to understand the community’s vision and goals for the future of the community. Employees will then work to determine what changes need to be made to planning policies and land use by-laws to enable the development of UHP in the way it is envisioned by the community.