Angry Bragg Creek-area residents say they will pursue legal action after Rocky View County councillors shot down a notice of motion that would have stopped construction of a municipal roadway in Wild Rose Estates.

Last May, the McDougall family who lives on a quarter section of the subdivision received permission from council to build a 50-metre road off Wild Rose Close in order to access the south portion of their section of land where they propose to build a third dwelling.

But last December, Bragg Creek-area councillor Harvey Buckley asked his colleagues to reconsider their May decision as a result of consultation with local residents who said they’d not been properly consulted, and claimed the decision had been made illegally.

Buckley explained residents were concerned the Greater Bragg Creek Area Structure Plan had not been referred to at the time of the original decision as mandated by law, and that the required public consultation process had not been followed.

That motion was held over till Jan. 12 at which time all councillors supported a ruling by Deputy Reeve Hopeton Louden that Buckley’s notice of motion was out of order.

Rocky View County Reeve Lois Habberfield was absent.

“I’ve made this ruling because the decision that we made in May did constitute a contractual agreement with the McDougalls,” Louden said. “So we will not proceed any further.”

His decision was supported by all councillors with the exception of Buckley.

But the dismayed residents say the issue is far from over.

“We’ll see them in court,” said Trevor Warne, one of the McDougalls’ neighbours.  “They whitewashed us. Everyone in Rocky View County should be aware that they have this power.”

Specifically, Warne is concerned that the proposed road would not only cross an environmental reserve, but that it could also have a detrimental effect on agricultural traffic and drainage and water tables. He questioned the wisdom of building a third dwelling on the quarter section of the land.

“How many farmers do you need to watch a handful of cattle?” he asked adding he and his neighbours are very concerned this precedent could lead to further subdivision of the land.

“We’re all hoping to get it overturned,” he said adding he was puzzled as to why the decision was made despite the vocal outrage of so many.

“The decision was made illegally and we feel powerless because they haven’t listened to us and we feel we’re not in control of what happens next,” he said.

Warne added he and his neighbours have been “naïve in our acceptance” of (Chief Administrative Officer) Rob Coon and Harvey Buckley’s advice, and that they would be pursuing the matter through the courts at “considerable cost to ourselves and the council.”

Buckley said he was disappointed not to garner the support of his fellow councillors.

Coon acknowledged the dismay of residents in the 44 dwellings affected, almost all of whom have formally indicated concern to the county.

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