Residents of Smallwood Drive have had a small success recently.
In the City of Mount Pearl, along Smallwood Drive, the presence of Newfoundland Power employees and trucks was a cause of contention among residents, who felt as though they had not been properly informed or updated on the plans for installing street lights along the road. Those concerns were heard loud and clear by councillor Lucy Stoyles, who continued to be outspoken on the topic at the City’s regular council meetings.
Work had actually begun just after the City’s June 2nd meeting, to which Stoyles said she received a number of calls from concerned citizens. So many, in fact, that a petition sprung up from those residents, which garnered approximately 260 signatures from the locals.
Stoyles explained that the City had reached out to Newfoundland Power through written statements sent out on June 10th, requesting them to stop the work on the poles for the time being, and that the City is now working alongside Light and Power to review the scope of the work, and to gauge how the end result will affect the nearby businesses and residents. She hopes to see further information coming in the following weeks.
“I just wanted to say that we also received a number of calls from residents of Smallwood Drive. They were happy to see we’re taking these steps to consider, listen, and hear what the residents have to say,” Stoyles said. “I’m looking forward to a public consultation with this.”
That public consultation was something that Stoyles recommended at the June 2nd meeting, and she had voted against Newfoundland Power moving forward with the proposal (the only councillor to do so.) The opportunity to consult with residents in some way about these things is a notion that Mayor Dave Aker later supported.
He was sure to note that no matter what, it would be near impossible to please everyone, but that he hopes to see “the best fit” implemented in the area.
“This work has stopped. I’m delighted that we’re listening to those residents and keeping an open mind for what they’re looking at doing down on Smallwood Drive,” Stoyles said, noting that although a public consultation of sorts is not set in stone, she is hopeful that the City will be able to actively hear from those residents in some capacity - perhaps via a Zoom meeting, she suggested.
Councillor Andrea Power, during the June 16th meeting, noted that hindsight truly is 20/20. She said she feels as though it is council’s commitment to residents prevailing in this situation, and that council failed in properly engaging the public before allowing the work to go ahead.
“I’m delighted, as well, to see that we’re putting a pause on the project and engaging al of the residents that will be affected by these upgrades … I think all angles need to be looked at with this project,” Power said.
