'Too big and too cumbersome': Proposed rural community can't get off the ground

Another proposed rural community in central New Brunswickhas been snubbed byresidents.

The proposed Nashwaak Rural Community, which would havebrought together the local service districts of Estey's Bridge, Stanleyand St. Mary's with the Village of Stanley, has been scrapped without evengetting to the voting stage.

"We decided the project probably wouldn't succeed so we just cancelled the project," said David Sweeney, chair of the technical committee for the Nashwaak Rural Community Project.

"People weren't ready for it."

• 25 Stanley-area communities look into possible merger
• 2 proposed 'super communities' woo potential residents stuck in middle
• The answer is 'No': Voters quash creation of York Rural Community

In October, residents west of Fredericton voted against a York Rural Community, which would have taken in a wide area of central New Brunswick.

With a population of nearly 8,000, the community would have included Islandview, Keswick and Douglas, on the outskirts of Fredericton, and extended north to Napadogan, Hainesville and Deersdale.

Up to the people

Over the past several months, the Nashwaak committee hosted sixpublic consultation meetings to gather opinions fro the public.

"It was brought up that the project was too big and too cumbersome," he said.

"Nobody really came up with any good reason why it was too big."

It's going to have to be up to individuals and communities to decide what they want.- David Sweeney

The proposal, which got its start about seven years ago, would have allowed the potential community to make decisions on its own.

According to a feasibility study, the Nashwaak Rural Community would have hada population of about 8,300, making it larger than Campbellton.

"It's got to be a community-led project," Sweeney said. "People just had the perception the government was pushing this."

Although the Nashwaak project is finished, he said there could be other proposalsdown the road.

"It's a good plan and self-determination is an excellent idea, so wehave to wait and see how people feel," he said. "It's going to have to be up to individuals and communities to decide what they want."

A hard sell

Mayor Mark Foreman of Stanley said he was behindthe rural community concept, but there were some things that were confusing to residents, including thetiming. The proposal for the York Rural Community Project was being evaluated at the same time.

"People were going to the meetings saying, 'We weren't aware there was a meeting or we didn't get the flyer until today,'" said Foreman, a member of thetechnicalcommittee for theNashwaakproject.

"Everybody was concerned, like disconnected. 'How are we connected to this area?'"

Foreman said he's still interested in a rural community but there needs to be better communication next time, particularly from government.

He saidit's important government relay how this type of project works from the get-go and how itaffects people in the proposed community.

"It just seems that every rural community that starts up, or tries to start up has different rules," he said.