The Nature Trust of New Brunswick has retained a landscape architecture firm from Fredericton to conduct an open space and trail study on the Blueberry Hill property behind the Workers’ Rehabilitation Centre in Grand Bay-Westfield. Last fall, the land owned by WorkSafeNB was conveyed over to the Nature Trust as a way to preserve and protect the property for future generations. The 50 acre site is made up of diverse habitats and ecosystems including fields, marshes and different types of forest bordering the St. John River.
Renata Woodward, Conservation Program Director for the Nature Trust, visited the area for the first time in mid May. She was impressed with the property saying its central location makes it different from most other Land Trust properties. She says given its potential for the development of a trail network and for recreational use, she’d like to see the whole community get involved and take ownership of the property. Woodward says the first step is to look at what options there are for the property and to raise the $30,000 required to set up a stewardship fund.
Steve Pickett of the Glenn Group, the company hired to conduct the trail study is excited about the property saying there is great potential for a series of loop trails using existing routes and creating new ones. Eric Hadley of the Nature Trust also toured the property and saw the potential for a development similar to Odell Park in Fredericton. “People have really adopted that park. There is a tremendous amount of local use, people walking, running and biking,” says Hadley. “There is a lot of opportunity for nature viewing here, lots of birds and scenic views. I can see lots of local use and people from Saint John coming here for a nice walk.”
There are also some challenges associated with developing this property. After the initial tour of the site it was noted that some culverts and fences along the road need replacing. Some banks need to be stabilized and some areas need to be cleaned up. Quite a lot of garbage was found washed up on one of the rocky beaches accessible from the trail. In addition to this, the group discovered that an adjacent property, overlooking the river, was recently clear cut right to the boundary line. The cut is clearly visible from one of the existing trails heading down to the water. While the group was disappointed to see this, they realize there is nothing they can do about it. “You want to take every property owners rights into consideration and so we’ll have to think what kind of connections there are going to be, or how close we want to put certain amenities to peoples property,” says land planner Steve Pickett. “But you can also look at it as an opportunity that maybe there’s another person we can form a partnership with to have a connection through there.”
Eric Hadley, Renata Woodward & Steve Pickett
The open space and trail study is expected to be finished by mid August at which time the Nature Trust will hold another public meeting in Grand Bay-Westfield. Renata Woodward says they should know by the end of the year whether they’ll take the property or not. Blueberry Hill is not yet a done deal. Even though the property has already been handed over to the Nature Trust, they still have to make sure it meets all the goals and visions of the organization. Woodward says they need to know how much it’s going to cost and whether it’s viable to implement the plan that comes out of the study. “But we really hope we will,” says Woodward. “We really welcome comments, ideas or recommendations from the public. We take all comments seriously and really want this project to happen.”
The Nature Trust of New Brunswick is conducting a Bird Walk through the property on June 24th from 6:30 to 8:00 pm. Interested people are asked to meet in the parking lot of the Workers’ Rehabilitation Centre.