City to finance 15% of Des Frênes housing project

The city agreed on August 30 to finance a portion of a proposed community housing project on Nancy Elliot Street at the Domaine des Frênes, just south of Aylmer Road and north of Lynn Street.

“The project was recommended by the municipal housing bureau. It was a unanimous decision by council and, yes, I’m in favour,” said Richard Bégin, councillor for the Deschênes ward where the plan is proposed. “If the city had refused to fund the 15%, the project would have collapsed.”

The agreement sees the province funding 50% of the project, through the AccèsLogis program, and Les Habitations des Rivières de l'Outaouais (HRO) financing 35%. The HRO, with the Groupe de Ressources Techniques, presented the plans to the city.

The Groupe de Ressources Techniques provides support and expertise to groups looking to build community housing projects. The HRO manages more than 700 affordable housing units across Gatineau. In Aylmer, it operates a building on Front Street which faces the park. It obtained land from the developer of Domaines des Frênes.

“We are still far away from having a shovel in the ground,” added Bégin. However, the city has approved the zoning for a housing project on Nancy Elliot Street.

“If I remember correctly, 15 buildings are proposed. Three of these will be for community housing,” said Bégin. Forty-eight of the 276 units built in Domaines des Frênes will be dedicated to community housing.

Bégin supported the project because, he argues, it is consistent with the city’s goals.

“There are some areas in Aylmer where there’s a relatively high concentration of low-income homes, and we want to avoid this. We don’t want to create ghettos. We want to encourage a social mix. The families who will eventually settle there will be able to send their children to the nearby school and will be in contact with families from different backgrounds,” he said.

“No, I did not consult Lynn Street residents, nor did I really need to. It would not change anything in the project; I was contacted by a few residents on that street who are concerned. But I don’t see why I would be against such a project,” said Bégin.

Lynn Street residents were behind the offensive that halted a controversial construction project at the Domaine des Frênes several years ago. Residents fought to save a creek, maintain their quality of living and the value of their homes. They were successful.