The federal agriculture minister is throwing cold water on the City of Charlottetown's plans to redevelop a plot of land owned by Agriculture Canada and currently used for a federal experimental farm.
Gerry Ritz said Friday the 35-hectare green space in the middle of Charlottetown is not for sale.
The land was declared surplus in 2002, but that designation was withdrawn. That has not, however, stopped rival groups from submitting competing proposals for how to develop it.
Last month, the Charlottetown Mayor Clifford Lee said the land could be in the city's hands as early as March of next year. The city backed a development plan by Friends of the Farm that would leave 32 hectares as park and include a new fire hall.
But Ritz said the research that's done at the farm is still important, and there are no plans in the works to let the land go.
