Richmond Co. Crest; Jack Morse/CIGO news
At a special meeting last night, Richmond Municipal Council chose communities of interest as a top priority in putting forward a recommendation to the Nova Scotia Utility and Review Board.
The unanimous recommendation to maintain a 5-member council with minor changes to the boundaries of each district follows a period of public consultation and research that began in July 2022.
Municipalities are required to conduct a study of boundaries and polling districts every eight years to review their fairness and reasonableness and the number of councilors.
“The last boundary review process in 2014 reduced the number of councilors from ten to five, representing a major shift in the local governance of the County.” says Warden Amanda Mombourquette. “In making our decision, council considered all of the input received from surveys, conversations, and information sessions held as recently as a couple of weeks ago. Public consultation was key to the process, and it highlighted for us how important it was to prioritize communities of interest as well a voter parity.”
The boundary review was led by consulting firm Stantec the same organization that conducted the review in 2014.
If approved by the UARB, the recommended boundary changes will take effect in the 2024 municipal election and will primarily impact some residents in District 2 in Arichat who will move to District 1, residents of Lennox Passage who will move to District 3, some residents in Thibeauville and Grande Greve who will move to District 4, and residents in Grande Greve will no longer be split between two districts along the Grande Greve Road which had caused confusion in the last election. Warden Mombourquette says these are small changes that we feel will make a difference to the constituents in these areas who expressed feeling disconnected form communities they identify with.
Council plans to submit the final report from Stantec along with supporting documentation in early February.
