Former Mayor Pat Estabrooks addressing Town Council in 2017
Former Mayor Pat Estabrooks is calling on Sackville Town Council not to approve a controversial rezoning application for a slaughterhouse at 72 Crescent Street until neighbourhood residents have been consulted.
“They didn’t do due diligence,” Estabrooks, who lives nearby, said today during a telephone interview.
“When they [council] got that application, we as neighbours in this area should have been advised,” she added. “We should have received a letter.”
The town and the Southeast Regional Service Commission put notices on their websites before conducting a public hearing on November 9th, but Estabrooks says about 95% of Sackville residents did not know what was happening partly because the town no longer has a weekly paper that prints notices from council.
In December, council gave first reading (preliminary approval) to municipal plan and zoning changes that would allow for an abattoir in an intensive use zone within Sackville’s industrial park.
On Monday, council is expected to vote on second and third readings that could give the changes final approval, but Estabrooks says that should not happen until residents on Crescent Street, Beal Heights and Charles Street have had their say.
“They should stop all [further] readings until such time as we’ve had the opportunity to talk to them about this,” Estabrooks emphasizes.
Meantime, Sackville resident Jean-Pascal Lavoie has submitted a written petition to council opposing the location of an abattoir on Crescent Street.
Lavoie says 101 Sackville residents have signed it including 23 who live within 500 metres of the site.
Council has also been receiving messages and letters expressing support for the proposed abattoir.
I shared my letter on Facebook with my friends (Bruce Wark is one). Would have been nice to have a heads up it was going to be in an article, for courtesy sake.
Sorry Wendy, I have removed your letter supporting the proposed abattoir.
Thank you
Bad planning, bad location job. Pat for mayor!
Hello Pat, nice to see your friendly face. Think you should run for Mayor and clean that place up. Sackville seemed to run pretty smooth when you were Mayor. I haven’t lived in Sackville for many years but have alot of family that does. You’ve been my grandmother’s neighbor for many moons, and always made sure Patty and I had some cookies. Thanks Pat for looking out for our little town.
I think Pat means well… she has spent countless hours fundraising for the skatepark um no.. sorry… I meant to say hospital… a foundation printing thousands of covid-alarm flyers for the public for a taskfarce group that is best ignored…. Also, with all due respect Pat is not in business in town and isn’t an entrepreneur so she really isn’t a qualified business consultant, nor is she an expert on how these businesses are run and I don’t take her emotion-laden opinions too seriously… we cannot have a mob rule mentality when people are starting businesses here …. its not a balanced approach. We can’t have people with the wrong opinions running independant media outlets in our town either.. that’s a problem too.. we should all be discussing the problem when opinionated people think they have authority over others because their voices are the loudest. You can disapprove but you cannot use a mob to shut down a man trying to make a viable business go.
Please sit down Pat.
So because Pat does not own a business in town, she can’t ask questions and have concerns about a potential business that will be located close to her home? What does being an entrepreneur have to do with it? Are you kidding me? People with the wrong opinions? You mean people with opinions that differ from yours? Doesn’t make them wrong. You need to sit way down. Your views and statements have been repeatedly condemned and disassociated with many organizations in this town. Remember sappyfest?
Here you go again, Sally, ridiculing those who disagree with your views. Pat Estabrooks has worked for the local community as a Town Councillor, Town Mayor, member of the SMHF board of directors, as well as many other volunteer positions for many years now. Yet you feel the need to criticize her because she failed to support your beloved skate park proposal (which many of us are very tired of hearing you go on and on about). How many youths in Sackville would have made use of such a park compared to other facilities in the town? You then make the ridiculous statement equating the importance of a skate park with that of keeping our local hospital in operation that is here for the benefit of all of Sackville’s and surrounding areas’ residents.
Pat was expressing her valid concerns and the concerns of others who live in the area close to the location of the proposed abattoir, for the lack of consultation with them by the town, and the potential negative effects such an enterprise might have on the quality of life in their neighbourhoods and the value of their properties. If I lived in that area I would have the same concerns. Councillor Evans in a town council meeting referred to the “Not in my backyard” attitude that is often criticized. It is easy to criticize that attitude if you don’t live in the area in question.
Your “taskfarce” comment about COVID19 reveals your ignorance of the dangers of this pandemic to all of us, including the selfish people who consider mask wearing as an impingement of their rights, regardless of the fact that the scientific evidence shows that wearing masks is one of the effective ways of reducing the spread of viruses and protecting others in case you are carrying the virus yourself. You complain about mob rule when at the same time you are repeating the mantra of the anti-mask/anti-safe distancing/anti self-isolating mobs of scientific deniers that we are currently witnessing in places like Toronto.
Your comment “I don’t take her emotion-laden opinions too seriously” is a classic case of self-projection (projecting your faults onto someone else). Take a good hard look at yourself.
Kate has already pointed out the problem with your “wrong opinion” comment so I won’t address that, but your other comment “the problem when opinionated people think they have authority over others because their voices are the loudest” is laughable (see above comment re self-projection).
Your comment “We can’t have people with the wrong opinions running independent media outlets in our town either” appears to be a direct attack on Bruce Wark (correct me if I’m wrong). The Wark Times is the only news outlet that I know of that covers Town of Sackville and surrounding area issues since the demise of the Sackville Tribune. Since I first noticed his site I have found his reporting to be fair and balanced, and due to his being a seasoned reporter and former teacher of journalism, he appears to be very careful to report the facts rather than fringe element conspiracy theories.
Finally, your “sit down Pat” comment is a perfect example of your continual lack of respect for and belittling of others that is so common in your posts. At the risk of lowering myself to your level of discourse, you might want to consider the old adage “it is better to remain silent and thought a fool than to speak up and remove all doubt”.
Thanks Les for your kind words. Just to let you know that Sackville does have another local news outlet that covers stories every day. Journalists Erica Butler and Meg Cunningham report a wide range of local stories. Their stories are broadcast on CHMA, 106.9 FM at 9 a.m., noon and 4 p.m. I’ll paste in the link where you can read their latest stories online and subscribe to receive a daily news digest via e-mail. You can also make a donation to help support local journalism. https://www.chmafm.com/welcome/news/
If Twitter and FaceBook can block Trump and his adherents from promoting conspiracy theories like Q-anon, Agenda 2030, etc.. One supposes the Wark Times could do so as well.
Fortunately I don’t rely on other people to form my own opinions Les.
I’m writing in favor of the new business and the location.
I see the following benefits of a local abattoir:
1 A local abattoir will result in much shorter transport time for the animals being transported and therefore less stress on the animals
2 Locally produced meat is more cost effective for farmers and potentially the public
3 Provides a local meat which we’ve seen is very important during this Pandemic
4 Provides a local source so you “know where your food comes from”
5 Less distance to travel results in less fuel which results in less carbon, better for the environment
6 Local jobs!
7 Smaller operation, less crowding of people, easier to socially distance
I see the following benefits of this location:
1 It’s in the industrial park
2 The developer will have a store front where they sell meat, the industrial park is zoned commercial for this
3 Lots of parking
4 Within walking distance to downtown
5 Near highway exit (ease of access for transportation)
6 Industrial roads, no need to travel through residential areas to access (for those trucking in livestock to be slaughtered)
7 Highly regulated industry which deals with waste elimination and odours
I understand that others have concerns and I trust that they will get answers to those concerns.
You understand that people have concerns? You were chastising anyone and everyone who voiced their concerns on Facebook. You don’t understand that people Have concerns nor do you care. Spare the decency.