Concerns about a future planned development between Assomption Boulevard and the Petitcodiac River in Moncton.
Two 17-storey residential buildings are planned, but social activist Jean Claude Basque says environmental and social impacts have not been considered first.
“The concern is the place that the two towers are going to be built, is right beside the Riverfront Park. The second concern is all that area is a flood land, so it shouldn’t be anything built. And thirdly, a lot of the city’s documents are saying the whole area south of Assumption Boulevard should be kind of a buffer zone and no high rises. These are really important,” Jean Claude Basque says.
He represents around 34 people in that area who have signed a request to the City for a moratorium and an environmental study to be done on that land first.
A ten-page document has been submitted to Moncton City Council listing a series of issues they claim make this project problematic.
“Next week, we’re going to open that petition to more people to have kind of a sense of how many people are opposed to this kind of development. These big towers are not done to really help people that are looking for housing. Certainly not for families and for workers who make minimum wage, and even higher than minimum wage. It’s going to be reserved for people that have money,” Basque adds.
He feels this project has been pushed forward without any public consultation.
“The whole Riverfront Park is really a place where people are walking, cycling, and it should be expanded instead of reduced. All the area south of Assomption Boulevard should be really a green buffer zone. I think that’s what the city should be looking at. They have to consider that climate change is going to have an impact on all that area, and it seems that more development and investing million dollars like they’re doing right now is not really the right way to go,” Basque says.
He also feels the city isn’t considering the social impact.
“Since 2006, Moncton City Council has supported the idea of protecting the southern part of Assomption Boulevard and creating a green buffer zone for Riverfront Park, which would be covered with trees and a bicycle path. By contemplating the construction of these towers south of Assomption Boulevard, the City Council is abandoning the protection of this space. To add to the injury, Council is considering selling to J.N. Lafford a piece of the riverside space, owned by the city, without any public call for tenders and without any real public consultation,” Basque stated.
