News Release

Residents Urged to Learn More About Boundary Changes

(Thursday, February 27/2003)-- Residents of District 9 (Albro Lake/Harbourview) will have an opportunity to respond to the proposed boundaries changes to their District at a public meeting next week.

HRM's District Boundaries Advisory Committee is holding a series of public meetings to present their recommendations to reduce the number of Districts in the municipality from 23 down to 20, as well as proposed changes to the existing District boundary structure.

District 9 Councillor Jim Smith said residents in his area have concerns about keeping their community intact. At the monthly meeting of the District 9 Citizen's Association earlier this week at the Dartmouth North Community Centre, the Association unanimously rejected the move to reduce the number of HRM Councillors and to re-draft the boundaries of their present District.

Councillor Smith said "Residents were outraged at this attack on their community integrity. The suggested boundary changes will divide groups and associations. It is important that residents of Dartmouth contact their Councillors for information about the proposed new boundaries, so they can respond to the District Boundaries Advisory Committee at these public meetings."

Shawn Fuller, Chair of District 9 Citizen's Association said " Residents are alarmed at how this distribution would fundamentally change their neighbourhood . The report does not recognize the significant historical ties of our community." Mr. Fuller and others in the Dartmouth community will be making presentations at the public hearing Monday night.

Councillor Smith said the Advisory Committee recommendations call for HRM Districts to be larger geographically and in population, compared to the Provincial constituencies.

In closing, he said "Increasing the size of some present Districts may be a better option than chopping up all of HRM. We need resident participation to determine whether these boundary proposals are in the best interests of the citizens of HRM."

When: Monday, March 3, 2003
Time: 7 p.m.
Where: Harbour East Community Council, Halifax Regional School Board Chamber, 90 Alderney Drive, Dartmouth.

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Councillor Jim Smith
(902) 229-8887

Shawn Fuller
Chair, District 9 Citizens Association
(902) 463-2555 or (902) 222-7725 (cell)