Petition could see two N.S. communities become one
Posted Sep 24, 2015 06:55:19 AM.
Last Updated Sep 24, 2015 06:56:37 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
WINDSOR, N.S. – What started out as a petition to annex one community under another has now evolved in to a petition for amalgamation.
If there are enough signatures, the Municipality of West Hants and the town of Windsor could soon be one in the same.
Interest in the merger began to grow earlier in September following a lengthy dispute over fire services between the two now separate entities.
Greg Miller — who’s lived in West Hants for 15 years — leads the Avon Region Citizen’s Coalition and said the petition was initially created to have the municipality annexed to the town of Windsor.
He said it began to change when people who were signing the petition door-to-door began making their own suggestions.
“Even though people were happy to sign what we had … they were saying why don’t you take it to the next level?” Miller said. “Why don’t you just go for the full amalgamation and solve this issue once and for all?”
Miller said the petition is the first political stance he’s ever taken publicly as a citizen, and the idea is to have one regional government look after the whole area.
The petition requires 1,700 names or 10 per cent of registered voters to submit to Nova Scotia’s Utility and Review Board and the Ministry of Municipal Affairs to trigger the next step in the amalgamation process.
