Two years of advocacy and an important development change have paved the way for an environmentally and historically significant North Calgary green belt to be protected as a park.

Coming to Calgary city council in October is a Notice of Motion from Ward 3 Coun. Jasmine Mian that would examine the creation of a Nose Creek Park Strategy to potentially guide the protection and enhancement of green space in the area.

Mian first told the Nose Creek Preservation Society (formerly Save Nose Creek) of the plan in public at the group’s weekend annual general meeting on Sept. 22. The Notice of Motion will appear before Calgary’s Executive Committee on Oct. 2 for a technical review.

The Notice of Motion calls for a strategy that “outlines the feasibility of locating a regional park within the Nose Creek Valley.” It outlines a series of goals that protect and enhance the creek area, along with the wetlands and grasslands that are home to roughly 1,369 species.

It also recognizes the archaeological and cultural significance of the area, including the provincially designated Balzac Site.

One of the primary catalysts for moving this forward was the potential introduction of residential areas within the Aurora Business Park Area Structure Plan (ASP). That ASP is currently under review with public engagement having happened through the summer and a refined plan coming forward in the spring of 2025.

The initial ASP was created in 2008 with little activity in the area.

“The new ASP aims to create connections between neighbourhoods and parks, as well as preserving these natural spaces,” reads the City of Calgary website for the review.

Coun. Mian said this change, along with amendments to the Airport Vicinity Coutour, allowed residential development in areas that were slated for industrial uses.

“If that’s the case, we need to think more concertedly about green space and connecting green space across these three plans that had primarily had industrial,” Mian told LWC.

Persistence has paid off: Nose Creek Preservation Society

Andrew Yule, president of the Nose Creek Preservation Society, chuckled that he finally wore the Ward 3 office down with his continual advocacy for the area’s protection.

“I think it’s persistence. I probably give the most mail to the Ward 3 office out of all the constituents,” Yule said.

“We’ve always known we’re 20 years behind on this advocacy. So it’s just about getting our foot in the door so that we can just provide a little bit of a voice for Nose Creek in everything that’s happening.”

Yule hopes this plan brings together stakeholders in the Aurora plan, along with those in the Stoney Industrial Plan and the Nose Creek ASP.

“That’s really what we’ve been asking for from the beginning, is projects talking to each other and realizing that Nose Creek is a huge feature in all of their projects,” he said.

Right now, there’s no regional park in North Calgary; you have to go to Nose Hill Park for any substantial green space, Yule said.

“This notice of motion will start the groundwork that’s needed that could potentially make a Nose Creek Regional Park in Calgary,” he said.

“This is really a huge step forward in that. I see this as a real feather in our cap. It’s been two years and a bit, and we’re finally getting some momentum. So, it’s a big day for us.”

Coun. Mian said her perspective on the area has evolved, along with the prescribed uses for the area. This is just one step in a larger process to see a larger park in the valley.

“I think with the housing crisis pressures that we’re facing, it can be pretty easy to just say, let’s flip from industrial to residential, and green space is a total afterthought,” she said.

“I just want to ensure that this notice of motion that we do have a vision for the green space that integrates across three Area Structure Plans, and then we can fit in the housing and other forms of development around that.”

The motion, should it be approved at a full meeting of Calgary city council in late October, would have city administration provide a report by the fourth quarter of 2026. Once that plan comes forward, if approved Mian said it would have to compete with a multitude of other Calgary parks projects for funding.