'A little Band-Aid': Residents want moratorium on Shediac Bay development
Residents renewed their call Thursday for a moratorium on any future development in Shediac Bay that would affect water quality at Parlee Beach.
Pointe-du-Chêne resident Arthur Melanson said the announcement Wednesday that the provincial and federal governments will spend up to $3 million on Parlee Beach infrastructure and studies doesn't go far enough.
"It's a little Band-Aid on a wound," he said.
Melanson said a moratorium would help determine the source of the contamination that caused the poor water quality at Parlee Beach in 2016.
Last summer, fecal bacteria levels at Parlee Beach were high enough on 45 days to pose a health risk to children and the elderly.
But beachgoers and residents were only informed the water quality was poor on 28 days.
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"If you stop development, at least you're not going to be putting more into the bay."
Rather than put a moratorium in place, the government will declare Parlee Beach a "unique feature of the environment," meaning developments that might have an impact on Parlee water quality will trigger an automatic review by the Department of Environment and Local Government to see if an environmental impact assessment is necessary.
The minister, Serge Rousselle, said this was the best way to go for sustainable development, dismissing the suggestion a moratorium on any development is needed.
"If you put a moritorium, you basically cannot build a shed beside your house," Rousselle said. "We have to take into account the reality, and the reality wants us to make sure that any project that goes in that area will not affect the quality of the water and with the EIA, we feel comfortable that is the best answer we can give to that situation."
Nothing new
But Melanson said the environmental impact assessment process already exists.
"There's nothing new there," he said, adding that since 1997, only one assessment has been refused.
Because of past practices, when things, including a walking trail, were built in the area without proper permits, Melanson is concerned that the government does not respect its own regulations.
"And now they say an EIA will be different. For us it's been the same thing that was there in the past, and we don't see anything different."
Despite the money to improve the water quality for the beach, until the work is done, Melanson is not sure he'll be visiting the beach this summer.
"Nothing has been done at this stage of the game," he said, referring to the sewer system, the overflow pipes emptying into the bay, and the surface water running into the bay.
"What has changed at this stage of the game? And the beach opens in three weeks."
