PORT HOOD: A group of concerned citizens visited Inverness Municipal Council’s committee-of-the-whole meeting on July 18 and implored municipal leaders to take a stand against the building of an $18 million airport in the Inverness area.
“It’s like a spaceship came down and aliens said let’s put an airport here,” said Neal Livingston, who led a presentation by the Margaree Environmental Association against the rumoured development. Presenting with Livingston was Brian Peters, and the two men co-chair the group.
The association requested the municipality pass a three-pronged resolution relating to how $18 million worth of federal money ought to be spent in the local area, through the Rural Infrastructure Fund.
The first suggestion was to put – in writing, to the Premier and federal government – that council doesn’t support the building of a government-funded airport in Inverness County. Further, the group wants council to ask the Premier to withdraw his support for such a project.
The second idea was to request the province apply to the federal government’s Rural Infrastructure Fund, on behalf of Inverness County, to develop an aquatic centre and gymnastic facility.
“For more than 20 years, there has been some discussion about this,” Livingston said. “We’d like to see the idea developed and put forward. Maybe this is the moment to really go for that federal money. It’s time we set the agenda here.”
This development would be promoted through an international design competition with a construction budget of $18 million. The location of the facility would be somewhere in the Inverness or Margaree area.
Third, the presenters want Inverness County to commit $3 million to the recreational wellness and transit infrastructure.
One million dollars worth of that money would, next year, be divided between developing the aquatic centre (70 per cent) and improving the Cheticamp boardwalk, as well as having Strait Area Transit expand to Cheticamp (30 per cent).
With that, $2 million would be set aside in a reserve fund once construction commences for use over the first 10 years of operations, if needed to pay for the operation of the facility.
Peters said that an aquatic centre would be far more sustainable than an airport, considering economic aspects, but more specifically, the social and environmental impacts.
“We don’t think the airport development addresses the economic disparity we see in our society,” he said. “The environmental factors have to be considered. A huge amount of clear cutting has to occur, and air and noise pollution would have to be considered. The one thing that threatens us the most is the emergency protocol for dumping fuel.
“What we are presenting today is a way to introduce some health and wellness infrastructure that would contribute to our society,” he said.
Warden Betty Ann MacQuarrie said a major stumbling block in the Margaree Environmental Association’s plan is that the $18 million of government funding won’t be transferable.
“If that $18 million is denied, it will go somewhere else,” she said. “That money might go to Vancouver or it might stay in Nova Scotia, but it won’t stay here. The federal and provincial government is who you have to talk to, not us.”
She added that no municipal dollars are going toward an airport in Inverness.
“It would be nice if we could put it toward the nursing home in Cheticamp or Strait Area Transit, but that’s not being realistic.”
Deputy Warden Alfred Poirier bristled at the idea of airport spending in Inverness.
“It’s only going for a certain company,” he said of the potential funding. “If that money could be for something else, that would be nice.”
“It would be nice,” MacQuarrie said. “But it’s just not possible.”
Councillor John Dowling said that it might be the time to send a letter to the Premier saying Inverness Municipal Council is not in favour of the airport spending. He was wearing a t-shirt that read “I support the Allan J. Airport” at the meeting. That airport, operated by Celtic Air Services, is located in Port Hastings. Management at Celtic Air Services say their business would not survive the arrival of a second airport in the county.
“I don’t think there’s anything else we need to learn from the parties,” he said, in terms of making a decision.
The other council members indicated they’d like to hear from both the federal government and McNeil’s Liberals to flesh out exactly where the project is sitting. The warden then said she’d like to ask representatives from the federal governement and province if money earmarked for an Inverness airport could be transfered to another project.
Both Peters and Livingston said their understanding was that, when requests are made through the Rural Infrastructure Fund, such money can be shifted from one project to another.