A Public Hearing concerning the adoption of the proposed amendment has been set for Thursday, March 7, 2013 at the St. James Presbyterian Church, 1991 Hanwell Road commencing at 8:00 pm.

This meeting will be held by staff of the Regional Service Commission 11 on behalf of the Minister of Environment and Local Government.

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The Rural Community Feasibility Study process is very active. The joint Committee of the Hanwell Local Service District Advisory Committee (HLSDAC), Kingsclear Local Service District Advisory Committee (KLSDAC) and the original Rural Community Steering Committee have met several times since last summer with representatives from the Department of Environment and Local Government.

We have been preparing the information that will be provided to residents to help them make an informed decision as to the desired governance structure that they would like to see for Hanwell.

We are now waiting for detailed financial information that will be collected from several Government departments. It is expected that when we have the information gathered we will then be in a position to hold public meetings beginning in April to discuss the options with residents. We are also exploring other means of getting the information to the residents. The use of a survey is currently being considered.

The members of the joint Committee, who are all volunteers from the community, are working hard to ensure we have enough information available for you to understand the process and options that will be available. The HLSDAC is looking forward to meeting with residents in the Spring and discussing our community’s future.

Recent media coverage has reported that the City of Fredericton is requesting a feasibility study into the annexation of properties currently within our Hanwell LSD boundaries.

The Hanwell Local Service District Advisory Committee (HLSDAC) was informed this past November that the City was applying to the Province to have a feasibility study conducted to look at the possibility of annexing a number of Hanwell properties. The first portion of land in question is an area that currently is mostly undeveloped land that lays on the other side of the Trans Canada Highway from the city limits to Deerwood Drive. The City indicated back in 2002 to the Province that they were interested in this property but has never proceeded with the request. The Kingswood property that has portions in both the LSD and the City is a new addition that the City has recently decided to include in their request to the Province.

The HLSDAC met with Mr. Frank Flanagan the City’s representative in November and were informed of their interest in the potential annexation of these properties. Following our meeting the HLSDAC sent a letter to the City and copied the Province indicating that we do not support their request for the feasibility study or the annexation. However, since we are an unincorporated area we do not have any decision making power and the Province can approve the City’s request without our recommendation or support.

The Hanwell LSD is currently in the process of conducting our own feasibility study on becoming a Rural Community, an incorporated municipality with our own Mayor and Council and the legal standing to oppose these actions. We feel that at this time it is not in our best interest as a community to have our boundaries redefined.

The HLSDAC will continue to oppose this with the Province and hopefully they will respect our recommendation. However, we have little to no control over the City conducting the feasibility study if the Province accepts their request. It should be noted that it is our understanding that for the City to be successful in having the feasibility study approved that the property owners in question would have had to approach the City and request that the City consider this on their behalf.

It is hoped that if it came to an actual request for the annexation of the properties the Province would consult with and have a vote by Hanwell residents as it would involve a considerable loss of property and taxes to our Community.