Residents hopeful ahead of public hearing on proposed industrial park expansion

A public hearing is underway for the expansion of an industrial park in Saint John, N.B.

Residents of Lorneville, N.B. will have the chance to voice their concerns about a proposed industrial park expansion in their community directly to council Monday night during a public hearing.

The long-awaited public hearing is set to begin at 5:15 p.m. and is expected to carry late into the evening with a number of residents and community members expected to make their case for and against the re-zoning of over 1,500 acres of land for heavy industry. If approved, Spruce Lake Industrial Park would be expanded.

“I have feelings of hope, and I am confident people are going to listen to us now,” says Sherri Colwell-McCavour, who has lived in the community for 31 years. “People are understanding that this is not a not in my backyard issue. This is an environment issue, and this is a group of people that are fighting for our climate, for our area, and for future generations.”

A quick drive through the community of Lorneville, located on the western outskirts of the city limits, leaves no doubt where many residents stand on the issue. Signs are present around the community with messages of “Save Lorneville” and “Wetlands Matter,” with most having signs directly in the windows of their homes.

The environmental impact to area wetlands and forests are at the top of the concern lists for residents, but they also worry about the close proximity of heavy industry activity happening in close proximity to long-standing homes.

“We are a community that has been fighting for the right to live peacefully within the geographical boundaries of the city of Saint John for decades,” says Colwell-McCavour. “If it’s not expropriation, then it was the dump, and then it was well right now, this situation.”

In the months leading up the public hearing a group of residents had been meeting with the city to address project concerns. The city says they listened to residents and have made changes to their expansion plans to accommodate worries, but residents don’t feel the same way.

A public rally was held Sunday uptown on the eve of the public hearing which saw over 100 people take part. One of them was MP John Williamson, who ahead of the meeting sent a letter to city council voicing his thoughts.

“I am urging you not to proceed with the Spruce Lake Industrial Park expansion as currently proposed by city staff,” the letter reads in part. “Too many questions remain unanswered concerning the impact on area wetlands, what types of industry could operate there, and the delirious impact on nearby homes and family neighbourhoods.”

In late April, Saint John Industrial Parks general manager Ian MacKinnon and Envision Saint John CEO Andrew Beckett met with reporters to share how the proposed expansion plan would offer job creation and economic development in the Saint John.

“We have the unique position to have, potentially, access to this land in an area with deep ports that don’t freeze,” MacKinnon says. “With a port, railways, the workforce here in Saint John in an industrial city, we have all these things. It’s a perfect storm.”

As for the types of companies the city would attract to the new space, Andrew Beckett says it wouldn’t be the “smokestack, dirty type industries” typically associated with heavy industry.

“These are industries that are very conscious or conscious in terms of how they approach their work,” Beckett says. “We see a lot more emerging opportunities in terms of that whole sort of green transition space. There’s going to be significant investments made that we want to be able to capitalize on, but to capitalize on it we have to have land.”

Beckett adds any business that would move into the new proposed space would bring significant capital investments to the area.

CTV reached out to Saint John Mayor Donna Reardon ahead of the meeting, but she declined to comment as part of the decision-making body. She adds she is hopeful to hear from all residents who want to speak for or against the expansion Monday night to avoid having to wait another two weeks to continue the hearing when council sits next.

The public hearing is open to any resident wishing to attended. Members of the public can also watch the meeting through the city’s website.

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