PORT HAWKESBURY - Officials here are hopeful that a meeting last week with Nova Scotia's Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing will help strengthen a relationship that was strained by a dispute over whether the town could designate a parcel of land as green space earlier this fall.

Town councilors made the decision with regards to Elm Court, a property located in the Tamarac Heights subdivision on the outskirts of Port Hawkesbury, this past September. Plagued by drainage issues for the previous fifteen years, Elm Court was deemed unsuitable for future residential development and was rezoned with the intent of redeveloping the land as community-friendly green space. 

However, Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister John Lohr quashed the rezoning bid shortly afterwards, insisting that Port Hawkesbury should instead be using all available land to address a housing shortage in the town. 

The minister met with town officials hours before their latest regular council meeting in the Port Hawkesbury Civic Centre. Following that meeting, Port Hawkesbury Mayor Brenda Chisholm-Beaton and Deputy Mayor Jason Aucoin spoke positively about their latest discussion with Lohr, and expressed hope that the two sides could continue to work together on housing developments for the town.

Aucoin told ROUNDTABLE host Adam Cooke that he was "surprised" by the minister's ruling, given Port Hawkesbury's desire to push forward with affordable housing over the past two years. This includes an extensive housing survey conducted in conjunction with the Cape Breton Partnership this past spring, and recent conversations with two potential housing developers, as confirmed by Port Hawkesbury Chief Administrative Officer Terry Doyle during the council meeting on Tuesday, December 7. 

However, Aucoin now chalks up his concern to his own council inexperience, and says he has a better understanding of provincial-municipal relationships concerning such issues as housing. 

Also on this week's ROUNDTABLE: A look at how recent heavy rains disrupted efforts to set up an all-way stop at a troublesome intersection in Port Hawkesbury, and a look at how COVID-19 regulations - including proof of vaccination rules set out by Nova Scotia - have impacted two aspects of everyday activities at the Port Hawkesbury Civic Centre.