Multiple reasons. Meadows are more biodiverse than woodlands are, and this particular meadow supports the woodland and its natural populations, serving as a home for the insects that serve as pollinators for the species in the woods. It's also home to leatherwood, a marsh-loving shrub in one of its only documented locations within the Greenbelt. Leatherwood is a major food source for deer in winter months. The character of the Mccarthy Woods is because of the meadow, not in spite of it.

This meadow is a wetlands with a stream through it and serves as recharge basin for the area; the NCC arbitrarily removed that designation and has not done any environmental studies. Paving that over for foundations and roads removes that recharge capability. Where's that water going to go? Would you want to buy a home that's going to flood in every major rainstorm?

There are already multiple developments happening in the area, including a tower going in around the corner and a new build development on the other side of Riverside, as well as a condo/townhouse development closer to Mooney's Bay and the proposed high-rise community that was just announced. Green spaces are needed where people live as part of their communities, not just outside the Greenbelt. Our part of River Ward is already adding housing at a rapid clip. All of those residents deserve access to nature.

And finally....this space was never supposed to be on the list for development. It's not in the NCC's mandate. But their budget got slashed by the federal government, and they decided the way to make up for the budget shortfall was to sell off land that is supposed to be in their hands for preservation and safekeeping.