Residents of villages on both sides of the Ottawa River are concerned about plans for new subdivisions that threaten their rural life, and they say their local governments aren't doing enough to protect them.

About 300 residents of Chelsea, Que., turned out at a meeting Thursday night with In Harmony Developments about the proposed Chelsea Creek subdivision. Billed as a green development with geothermal heat and recycled wastewater, it would bring 46 two-storey condos, 73 single-family homes and 81 units of seniors housing to the little community north of Gatineau.

Michelle Findlater was among residents who worried it will permanently alter the feel of the community.

"Well, I guess I moved to Chelsea because I wanted to live in the country," she said. "Now they're building a new subdivision with stores and services and big duplexes. I mean, if I wanted to live there, I'd go live in Orléans."

Ghislaine LeFebvre accused Chelsea Mayor Jean Perras of acting more as a spokesman for the developers than speaking on residents' behalf.

"The mayor is sitting there, we can't get good answers from those people, and we already know this is done," she said. "This project is going ahead."

Perras said council has noted residents' concerns, and will give them other chances to speak out, including possibly a referendum for residents close to the proposed development.

However, he said, council likes the fact that the development would provide housing options for seniors, artists and low-income families.

"Some people like it the way it is right now, and they would like to see it stay for good, but I think council has other interests in mind," he told CBC Radio's Ottawa Morning Friday.

Developers leapfrogging greenbelt: villager

Meanwhile, residents of rural communities south of the Ottawa River say the City of Ottawa also needs to do a better job protecting its rural villages and ensuring development happens within the city's designated urban boundary.

Bruce Webster, president of the Richmond Village Association, said developers are buying up land on the edge of villages outside the city's greenbelt as a way around rules designed to limit urban sprawl.

"We understand that there will be extensions of the urban boundary," he said. "That's the only way a city can grow. But this is not an extension of an urban boundary. This is a leapfrogging, if you will."

The developer Mattamy Homes recently bought 120 hectares just outside Richmond, a community in Ottawa's southwest outskirts where Webster lives.

They're not the only developers buying up land in rural Ottawa.

Richard Fraser, who farms 320 hectares on Fallowfield Drive between Kanata and Richmond, said about 18 months ago, he was offered several million dollars for his land and told he could continue farming it.

"They were prepared to give you a five-year lease-back for a dollar a year plus municipal taxes," he recalls. He turned down the offer, but he said many of his neighbours didn't.

Minto Developments has proposed a massive development for Manotick, a village east of Richmond, and local Ottawa city councillor Glenn Brooks said he expects growth to continue.

"It's Manotick today," he said. "Obviously it's Richmond tomorrow, and it can be any one of the 26 rural villages down the road."