Kentville’s green campaign growing

BY KIRK STARRATT

Kings County Register

He is pleased with progress made establishing an anti-idling bylaw for Kentville, and hopes colleagues will revisit a prohibition on drive-thru development in the future.

Councillor Eric Bolland, chairman the town’s environmental advisory committee (EAC), says establishing an anti-idling bylaw involves the “carrot and stick” approach: the carrot being public education and the bylaw the stick.

At a recent council advisory committee (CAC) meeting, a draft of an anti-idling bylaw was presented. Some areas of the draft should be revised for clarity and ease of enforcement. At the May session, councillors voted to give direction to the EAC to work with the town’s solicitor to amend the proposed bylaw.

Councillor Dennis Kehoe pointed out it’s simply a matter of council not being able to approve the draft bylaw as submitted.

Bolland said they have been educating Kentville residents since December 2006 vehicle idling costs money and is not good for air quality. The bylaw would work on a complementary basis with the education campaign. If someone were idling excessively, a charge could be laid, but Bolland said they prefer to remind people with a warning.

“It’s a natural progression,” Bolland said, pointing out there is a lot of public support for the initiative. He said Kentville would be the first town in Atlantic Canada to have an enforceable anti-idling bylaw.

The EAC requested the planning advisory committee (PAC) make a recommendation to amend the Land Use Bylaw to prohibit the establishment of more drive-thrus in town. PAC reviewed the request and forwarded a recommendation to CAC in April, but it was defeated.

Bolland said this is another part of the EAC’s mandate, pointing out a second drive-thru is set to open in town very soon. He said he hopes his colleagues will reconsider the decision to defeat the drive-thru ban in the future, and he hopes to get some feedback from residents.

The Nova Scotia Lung Association has sent the town a letter of support for the anti-idling bylaw. Health Canada estimates more than 5,900 Canadians die prematurely each year because of air pollution, and thousands more become unnecessarily ill. At 9.3 per cent, Nova Scotia has the highest rate of asthma in Canada for those 12 years of age and older. Bolland points out the province has a higher than average rate of childhood asthma.

Green team building

In other news from the EAC, about two-dozen students from KCA’s “Green Team” took part in an Earth Day cleanup in the downtown April 20.

In order to promote environmental sustainability in the Apple Blossom Festival Grand Street Parade, it was decided to place signs outlining the successes of the EAC and the town, including the anti-idling campaign, carbon offsetting policy and the use of LED lights; on the town float. A “green contingency” will be part of the children’s parade, carrying an anti-idling banner and handing out “idling bucks.”