No Quarry in Bayside

As minister responsible for the environment and community planning in New Brunswick I would like to advise the residents of the Bayside Local Service District that the Department of Environment is working on two planning processes in their area. First, we are converting the Bayside Basic Planning Statement to a Rural Plan and second we received a request for an amendment to allow for a quarry operation. I would like to explain each of these in more detail.

Basic Planning Statement Conversion to a Rural Plan

The Department is currently working on converting the Bayside Basic Planning Statement to a Rural Plan. This initiative is in response to a request from the Local Service District Advisory Committee in 2007 and part of our ongoing work to convert all Basic Planning Statements in the province to Rural Plans. This process will result in a modern planning document that includes goals, objectives and zoning provisions and reflects the permitted uses contained in the current Basic Planning Statement.

Work is almost completed on the proposed new Rural Plan and there will be a public hearing scheduled for mid March. There will be two notices of the public hearing placed in the local newspapers, approximately a month and a week, in advance of the hearing.

Request for an amendment to allow for a quarry operation

In December 2008, the Department received a request for an amendment to allow for the construction of a new permanent, enclosed aggregate manufacturing plant within the boundaries of Champlain Industrial Park, and the relocation of primary processing activities and the phased development of aggregate extraction activities east of Route 127. Preliminary work has commenced on this request, and we expect to schedule a public hearing on the requested amendment later this summer or early fall. Again, there will be two notices of this public hearing.

We recognize that residents are concerned about the requested amendment. I have been monitoring the concerns of residents who are worried about what this would mean for them.

I would like to reassure residents that their point of view matters. As minister, I must balance the environmental and economic aspects of any request, ensure that the proper process is followed, and that the concerns of residents are considered.

I would like to outline for the public, the process that is generally followed for amendment requests to allow for a use that is currently not permitted;

• The Department of Environment and the Rural District Planning Commission will review the request and gather input from different sources, including various government departments and the Local Service District Advisory Committee.

• The applicant's requested amendment is prepared, including any potential terms and conditions, and made available for public review and input approximately one month prior to a public hearing.
• The minister will formally request the advice of the commissioners of the Planning Commission and the Local Service District Advisory Committee, consider all input received and then a decision is made on the applicant's requested amendment.
• This entire process normally takes six to nine months.
• A more detailed description of the process can be found on our web site at www.gnb.ca/environment

I would like to take this opportunity to encourage residents to contact the Department of Environment through the Sustainable Planning Branch with their questions and comments.  It is very important that residents have their say on planning matters and residents can be sure that their comments will be considered.

Please send your comments by email to planning-urbanisme@gnb.ca or mail to the attention of the Sustainable Planning Branch at P.O. Box 6000, Fredericton, New Brunswick, E3B 5H1 or by fax 506-457-7823, or by phone 506-453-2171.

Again, I encourage all area residents to voice their opinions on this matter.

Roland Haché

Minister of Environment

MLA from Nigadoo-Chaleur