Reshaping the 23 districts of HRM is a tough job.
Yesterday staff presented their ideas on how to shift the boundaries of the districts so that the electorate is more evenly distributed.
The proposal will be sent to the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board, which has the final say on what the districts will look like and how many councillors are needed to run the municipality.
“Spryfield is a very defined community, and this is going right down the middle of it,” said Coun. Steve Adams. “It’s not fair to start incrementally moving a community away.”
Coun. Russell Walker pointed out a number of the new districts are over or under ideal variance of 10 per cent.
Cathy Mellett, municipal clerk, said they had to leave some communities together, like Beaver Bank for example, and that skewed the numbers a little.
The people of Cherry Brook won’t be happy with this proposal, pointed out Coun. Gloria McCluskey. That community fought to be a part of Cole Harbour, but this proposal draws them out of Cole Harbour and back into Dartmouth.
Cole Harbour Coun. Lorelei Nicoll said she agrees with this move because otherwise a large part of Cole Harbour would be “lopped off.”
But she said the people of Cherry Brook feel they’ve been “kicked around” and will fight this at the UARB hearing.
Council must submit their proposal for district changes to the UARB by Dec. 31.
