LAKEVIEW: The local councillor is hopeful the NS UARB will support the recommendation to keep Lakeview in District 1.
Cathy Deagle Gammon spoke at the recently held UARB hearing into the District Boundary Review for HRM. That review had initially made one big rural district and eliminated Lakeview as part of District 1.
Currently, District 1 is made up of Waverley-Fall River-Musquodoboit Valley (it goes into Dartmouth a bit Barry’s Run area).
As a result, HRM held public engagement sessions on each district and the voices of those in District 1 were heard. It led to a change in the recommendation to UARB.
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Deagle Gammon said in the recommendation put forward, had Lakeview remain in District 1.
“There is a small part of Dartmouth that is recommended to go back into its original spot that it had in 2011; a change was made at the last boundary review and it became part of District 1, which many residents did not agree with,” she said.
She said Dartmouth Councillor Tony Mancini also spoke to the NS UARB the same evening about the proposed changes.
One of the changes affected District 1 which he supported, as did Deagle Gammon although a bit reluctantly.
“I appreciate having the Dartmouth end in the district and representing them because it then means as a councillor it’s suburban, rural and urban,” she said. “I think that makes for a very eclectic councillor and a well-rounded councillor.
“But if you’re representing your district in the way that you should and that’s what your constituents want to be in Dartmouth that’s really what you should support. So I went in support of that.”
“There’s a small area around Montague Mines that is recommended to be part of District 1 and the rural component, the agricultural belt stays the same.”
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She said District 1 will have the least population count of any of the districts.
“I spoke to that because I was a little worried that the UARB board might see that, and it’s a risk because there are five criteria that they use when they look at the districts,” said Deagle Gammon. “Although there is no weight given to the five, it does feel like in actuality there is in population counts.
“I spoke to the board about the community of interest and the beautiful fit that it is within District one and maintaining that fit and that growth is coming.
“We’re seeing a lot of developments, and so at this point we’re talking about the next eight years, and I hope they would support the recommendation that has gone forward for District One with Lakeview in it.”
There is no word on when the UARB will make it’s final decision.
