NSNDP

January 29th, 2018

Bloomfield decision wrong direction by Liberal government

Province tells HRM it won't buy the vacant property

HALIFAX – The decision by the Liberal government to pass on buying the Bloomfield property is a loss for the community.

“We know that public land is scarce and there is a lot of development pressure in this neighbourhood,” said Lisa Roberts, MLA for Halifax Needham. “The province could have taken this opportunity to safeguard a piece of public land for community use in the future.”

The Conseil Scolaire Acadien Provincial had hoped Bloomfield could have been the site of a new P-12 school for the French board. The Halifax Regional School Board also submitted a capital request for a new North End junior high school after an extensive school review process in 2016. The reasons given by the province for not buying the property include that there are no approved new school projects on the peninsula and that it can’t guarantee the site would be selected for a school.

“This is another example of problems with the capital planning process,” said Susan Leblanc, NDP spokesperson for Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal. “There needs to be a better and more transparent system in place so communities can make sure their voices are heard by the McNeil government.”

The city may choose to sell the property for private development now that the province has said it is not interested.

  • 30 -