Controversial Shediac campground moves ahead

Shediac town council voted in favour of rezoning a section of land for a proposed 700-site campground in Point-du-Chêne on Monday night as those opposed to the development called out "No" from the public gallery.

Mayor Jacques LeBlanc said despite the vocal objections he believes most residents are in favour of the project.

"One can argue that in the Sept. 22 election, the great and silent majority of people … made their views known about this project," LeBlanc told the meeting.

He was referring to the re-election of MLA Victor Boudreau in the riding of Shediac-Beaubassin-Cap Pelé. Boudreau is one of the investors and supporters of the campground development.

"Tonight is about rezoning a parcel of land. It is not another public hearing. There will be no interventions from those for or against the project at this meeting," LeBlanc said.

He went on to tell the meeting that the law has been followed and that council has been "beyond reproach in its transparency," which drew audible laughter from some citizens present.

Boudreau has set up a blind trust to manage his business interests while he is a member of the provincial government.

Residents not giving up

Angele Wilson of Point-du-Chêne, who was at the meeting, says she still can't understand how the project, which includes environmentally sensitive land, has made it this far.

"There's something wrong, it's very fishy, this is not democracy," Wilson said.   

Trudy Brydges, who also lives in the area where the campground would be developed, said she feels the democratic process has been a joke.

"A piece of paper was handed out tonight that said if you want to speak you have to mention it to the clerk 10 minutes before and then we went to ask if we could speak and we were told we couldn't … I mean that's an insult to our intelligence."

Longtime Liberal party supporter and Shediac resident Bill Belliveau doesn't believe the plan for the large campground makes sense from a economic perspective.

He says based on numbers he has gathered the return on investment for owners would be about one per cent.

"Is there some hidden agenda? Is there some other form of  benefit that we are not aware of? We don't know."

Those opposed to the campground development say they will continue to follow the process and do what they can to ensure the environmental assessment and the traffic assessment are completed properly.