Hay River (Nov 01/04) - The territorial cabinet has approved a transfer of land to the Town of Hay River.

Until the agreement last month, the town was virtually out of land for more residences and businesses.

"We have approved it from this end and we are proceeding with the transfer," said Municipal and Community Affairs Minister Michael McLeod. "We anticipate the town will require more land fairly quickly."

The town modified its general plan to obtain land for the next five years, not 20 years, thereby decreasing the amount it required.

"We were pretty well out of industrial land," Mayor Diana Ehman said.

About 390 hectares of Commissioner's land will be available to the town bit by bit as it's needed.

Ehman said it will probably take three to five years for all the land to be transferred.

McLeod says the GNWT will also reserve Commissioner's land identified by the Northwest Territory Metis Nation and West Point First Nation.

"We'll hold it and reserve it," he said.

That includes about 30 hectares of vacant land for West Point and about 115 hectares for the Metis.

The government will also transfer third-party leased land, excluding land in the Corridor area. Occupants can then buy the properties from the town. Under the GNWT's lease-only policy, the land could not be purchased.

"For those people, this is very exciting," Ehman said.

McLeod says the transfers follow terms of the Metis and Deh Cho interim agreements.

"We're quite satisfied we've done everything we're required to do," he said.

Among those seeking land from the town are two companies proposing to build pipe-coating facilities.