A road doesn’t run through it
Holyrood town council rejects application from mining company
As each member of Holyrood town council announced they would reject the proposal, the 50 or so people in the school gymnasium clapped enthusiastically.
For months the people of Holyrood have been letting their council know they have concerns too large to be ignored regarding a proposed road to be built in the watershed area of Big Triangle Pond.
“This application is one of the most significant pieces of correspondence that any council probably since incorporation has ever had to debate,” Holyrood Mayor Gary Goobie said.
Mining company Eagleridge International had applied to build the road to an exploration site near Big Triangle Pond. The company has been searching for gold and copper in the area on and off for the last 25 years.
The road proposal had been given the green light by the provincial government, and people in the community worried that meant it would be rubberstamped by the town council. Not so. Council did mention the sixyear exploration time the mining company had given to the project could lead to an active mine. Such a project would benefit the area fi- nancially, but in this instance that possibility was not enough for council. “There are way too many questions and concerns still outstanding,” the mayor said.
Those questions and concerns were environmental in nature. There was deep concern that salmon and trout in the area could be negatively affected. But the deepest worry was that the watershed area contains the North Arm River, which is an alternate water supply for the Holyrood community, and which the town may one day rely upon. Council members were concerned about possible contamination.
In the spring of 2014, company CEO Albert Chislett told The Telegram that as long as his company complies with government regulations for exploration and road building, there should be no problems.
Although council rejected the proposal, the company does have recourse.
Resident Mike Tubrett spoke on behalf of the people of Holyrood who opposed the road at the council meeting Tuesday night.
“I’m not surprised by the 7 to 0 vote. I thought that was the way it was going to go down due to the tremendous lobby that has taken place over the last several months,” he said after council had voted.
He also said he thought the company would challenge the town’s decision with the Eastern Regional Appeal Board.
“I think it will be rejected there as well,” Tubrett said. “When discretionary things come forward the appeal board rarely overrules the town’s initial decisions.”
Tubrett also suggested the company might go to the provincial minister of environment and ask the provincial government to override the municipal decision, or it might come back to the town with a new application that addresses some of the concerns.
Nobody from the company was at the meeting to say what its plan is, but Tubrett wants to be ready for any future threat to the Big Triangle Pond area.
“(Council) needs to go get full protection for the watershed now and remove this discretionary thing.”
“This application is one of the most significant pieces of correspondence that any council probably since incorporation has ever had to debate.”
Holyrood Mayor Gary Goobie