Greenwich, Prince Edward Island

Greenwich is an unincorporated

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

rural community located in eastern

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island (PEI; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is the smallest province in terms of land area and population, but the most densely populated. The island has several nicknames: "Garden of the Gulf", ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

. Located on the Greenwich Peninsula, which extends northwest from St. Peters, creating St. Peters Bay, the community of Greenwich is located in the northwestern part of

Kings County Kings County or King's County may refer to: Places Canada *Kings County, New Brunswick *Kings County, Nova Scotia *Kings County, Prince Edward Island ** King's County (electoral district), abolished in 1892 Ireland * County Offaly, formerly calle ...

at 46°26′ north, 62°38′ west. Primarily a farming hamlet, the westernmost part of the Greenwich Peninsula — fronting on the Gulf of St. Lawrence and part of

Prince Edward Island National Park Prince Edward Island National Park (french: Parc national de l'Île-du-Prince-Édouard) is a National Park of Canada located in the province of Prince Edward Island. Situated along the island's north shore, fronting the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the ...

— is an extensive

sand dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, f ...

field covering dozens of hectares, as well as several sand beaches. Mostly used by local residents until the 1970s, the Greenwich peninsula was largely unknown to tourists as it did not have good roads and was not near major attractions. This changed after a

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

real estate developer purchased several abandoned farms and part of the dune field in the area during the 1980s and proposed a major

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". ...

and exclusive resort on the property, creating a stir in publicity and causing an outcry among Islanders who feared loss of access to the area, and by environmentalists, who feared irreparable damage to the ecosystem. Islanders and tourists began to explore Greenwich's dune fields in increasing numbers and the pedestrian and frequently, illegal motorized vehicle use, was causing damage to the dunes. The provincial government held many public meetings which resulted in the government acquiring the land as part of a real estate swap with the American developer. Local

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

Lawrence MacAulay Lawrence A. MacAulay (born September 9, 1946) is a Canadian politician, who has represented the riding of Cardigan, Prince Edward Island in the House of Commons since 1988. On June 11, 1997, he joined the cabinet of Prime Minister Jean Chrét ...

was elected to the riding of Cardigan in

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...

and became a

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

minister in the government of

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

Jean Chrétien Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien (; born January 11, 1934) is a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 20th prime minister of Canada from 1993 to 2003. Born and raised in Shawinigan, Shawinigan Falls, Quebec, Chrétien is a law gradua ...

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...

. MacAulay lobbied for

Parks Canada Parks Canada (PC; french: Parcs Canada),Parks Canada is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Parks Canada Agency (). is the agency of the Government of Canada which manages the country's 48 National Parks, th ...

and the provincial government to come to an agreement that would see the Greenwich property added to

. The national park was officially expanded in 1998 when 6 square kilometres of the Greenwich Peninsula were transferred from the provincial government to Parks Canada. Parks Canada has implemented a development plan which has controlled access to the dune field and prevented pedestrians and motorized vehicles from trespassing on sensitive areas. A visitor centre was constructed and a new beach complex was built at the eastern end of the property. {{coord, 46, 26, N, 62, 38, W, source:enwiki-plaintext-parser, display=title Communities in Kings County, Prince Edward Island