In March of 1815, Surveyor General Charles Morris recommends to the imperial government that compact and regular allotments not exceeding 200 acres each should be laid out and granted to the disbanded soldiers.

A few months later in September 1815, in respect of the Preston lands to the Black Refugees, the Surveyor General Charles Morris advises the imperial government that compact lots be laid out so as to form a village, each lot to contain about 10 acres. Upper Hammonds Plains Community established in 1815. The 10-acre model was then replicated in the land allotments to the Black Refugees in Hammonds Plains.

While the government of Nova Scotia often provided white settlers with 100 acres or more of fertile land, it gave black families ten-acre lots of rocky, infertile soil. The land given to black families was segregated from that given to white families. The government of Nova Scotia gave white settlers deeds to their land but did not give black settlers title to their land. Instead, black settlers were given tickets of location or licenses of occupation.

In 1816, the Surveyor General [Morris] wrote to assure him that they were to be given to men who meant ‘to become immediate Settlers’. This was a simple process because no grants of lands had yet been made. Pending the escheat of the old loyalist grants, the Government was giving out temporary tickets of location, for which the men drew lots.

In 1834, land was purchased by 60 of the settlers. It was raw, barren, unworked land typical of Nova Scotia’s interior; however, it had mature forests and proximity to the Hammonds Plains Road (a major artery to Halifax). [October 20, 1834, land grant (PID 00425348 – 352 acres) recorded at Crown Lands Office, in Book R at Page 170].

Lack of clear title and the segregated nature of their land triggered a cycle of poverty for black families that persisted for generations and that continues to be seen in the infrastructure gap within the community. Black communities in rural areas were isolated and remote, lacking typical community developments such as water, sewage, sanitation, garbage removal, road improvements, and other related services regularly provided in white or mixed communities.

Although a limited number of land titles were eventually issued in Preston, and some settlers were able to purchase land, most black settlers never attained clear title to their land. Without legal title to their land, black settlers could not sell or mortgage their property, or legally pass it down to their descendants upon their death.

In 1855, a tract of communal land that was granted to the community from the Crown, by Queen Victoria which is now known as the Melvin Land Tract. The tract consists of two parcels considered, ‘Big Melvin’, and, ‘Little Melvin’.

In 1963/4 – Public Service Commission (now known as Halifax Water) did not include Pockwock Lake as a watershed zone on their maps, Susie’s Lake area was the designated watershed zone.

In 1964-65 Halifax County Planning Board developed a “Town Plan” looking at changes to water supply watersheds.

On October 11, 1967, an easement was registered across the Melvin Lands.

By 1970, Upper Hammonds Plains was an almost exclusively Black community with a population of 500. Also in this year, the Upper Hammonds Plains Community Development Association was founded which provides programs and services to residents of UHP.

In 1974, approximately 365 acres of the Tract was expropriated to make way for the Pockwock Water Plant. The plant is one of the primary water supplies for Halifax County. The expropriation for the water transmission line ran between the two tracts restricting access to ‘Big Melvin’. The bulk of ‘Big Melvin’ was designated either protected water supply area or future water supply (Pockwock Lake, Tomahawk Lake) which severely limits development potential.

a. The most egregious aspect of the Pockwock Watershed expropriation and the Melvin Lands was the government’s decision to exclude the community of UHP from the water supply.

b. NS Department of Natural Resources directs forest activities and provides protection of resources with participation from Halifax Water.

c. The new Expropriation Act came into effect in Nova Scotia in the early 1970's (applied to all land expropriated on or after June 20, 1974) and greatly expanded the rights of property owners to compensation and recovery of reasonable legal and appraisal expenses.

d. Community Land Use Regulations in this area were first introduced in the former Halifax County.

In 1976, the Melvin Land Tract Protection Society Incorporated.

In 1977, the J.D. Kline Water Supply Plant first became operational.

On January 18, 1979, 530 acres in Upper Hammonds Plains were recorded as expropriated by the Province under Expropriation number 2347 in Book 3199 at Page 164 and those lands previously conveyed to Halifax Water by Deed from John Kitz family and Lorne Allison by Deed on October 3, 1991, recorded on October 4, 1991 in Book 5142 at Page 888., For the sum of $1.00.

In 1983, the former County of Halifax initiated a process to prepare a Municipal Planning Strategy (MPS) and Land Use By-law (LUB) for Beaver Bank, Hammonds Plains and Upper Sackville.

In 1987, Municipal Planning Strategy and Land Use By-law were adopted in 1987. Halifax County updated land use Bylaw, Upper Hammonds Plains.

In 1989, the Water Act came into effect, Chapter 500, Revised Statutes of Nova Scotia.

On October 3, 1991, Halifax Water purchased the 98-acre lot for $1 from the Kitz family and Lorne Allison. This land is currently zoned GU.

On May 28, 1992, Halifax Water Board moved to ask the Minister of Environment to designate an area of Pockwock Lake Watershed as a Protected Water Area. This may be when Melvin Land Tracked was transferred to the Protected Watershed Zone.

In 1994, the Pockwock Lake Watershed Protected Water Area was designated by the Province of Nova Scotia for the Halifax Water Commission to supply water to customers in the metro Halifax area. An informal management framework for the Pockwock Lake Watershed PWA designated in 1994 has been in place since the 1970s, when the Public Service Commission and provincial agencies recognized the need for an advisory committee to lead the management of the watershed area that has continued for the last 30-plus years.

In 1996, water testing revealed harmful bacteria in 47% of wells tested in the community.

a. Thus, the community engaged Halifax Water to install a central water system. The initial cost of the project was estimated at $4.3 million, of which $2.85 million would require contribution by property owners through frontage fees of approximately $49 per foot. This cost was prohibitively high for many community members, particularly the elderly residents.

b. Negotiations ensued for roughly three years, with modifications to the project scope in efforts to reduce the cost. In addition, the community sought municipal, provincial, and federal funding, and the frontage fees were further reduced.

c. During negotiations, Halifax Water informed the community that any cost savings from reduced construction tender prices would be used to further reduce the frontage fees. However, when the project tenders came under budget because of community-led action, Halifax Water instead used the savings towards servicing a new housing development in the adjacent area known as English Corner, and none of the savings were used to benefit the community of Upper Hammonds Plains.

In 1999, the ‘Water Fight’ as it became known comes to a resolution. After long and costly litigation, the court ruled in favor of the community citing negligent misrepresentation made by government officials. Access to clean drinking water was granted to the community after 25 years, despite community land being expropriated for development of this infrastructure.

In 1999, the Municipal Plan was reviewed and re-adopted again in 1999.

In 2002, a Human Right Investigator debunked the argument that Halifax Water’s actions were under their jurisdictional scope and not racially motivated stating in part, “…The Public Service Commission (now Halifax Water) did that the power to develop the water supply for the benefit of communities outside the City of Halifax, and more specifically, had the power to do so for the Upper Hammonds Plains area”.

In 2020, land development in Upper Hammonds Plains began to increase exponentially as nearly 40 new residential units were added.

In 2021, after community advocacy for rezoning of UHP, HRM begins zoning review of GU1 zone in Upper Hammonds Plains including an online survey and multiple engagements.

Upper Hammonds Plains Community Land Trust is incorporated. Begins mobilizing the community around the idea of the community land trust model.

UHPCLT hosts the first Housing Solutions Lab in Atlantic Canada called “Driving Transformation: The Power of Land Trusts in African Nova Scotian Communities

Applied to CMHC Co-Op Development Fund.

Received permission to conduct site feasibility on five provincially held parcels of land in Upper Hammonds Plains.