Community of Bedeque and Area looking to grow

BEDEQUE — Ron Raynor would like to see his municipality grow.

Raynor is the chairman for the Community of Bedeque and Area, the province's newest municipality.

The newly amalgamated community, comprised of Bedeque and Central Bedeque, was formed last fall but, already, there is talk of even more growth.

At its first annual general meeting, council discussed possible expansion to bring smaller surrounding communities into the fold.

"Something that we are talking about, well, everybody is talking about, is getting a little bit bigger," Raynor said. "We are the first two communities to actually merge together and first two incorporated villages to merge.

"There will be other areas that are going to be coming together."

The Community of Bedeque and Area is small, with only 310 residents.

Its size is a mere 2.2 square kilometres.

In total, there are 73 municipalities in the province.

If the recommendations of the report by the late Judge Ralph C. Thompson are followed that number could get smaller.

Amalgamation was the heart of Thompson's report, that of the Commission on Land and Local Governance, which was released in 2010.

In it, sweeping changes to the borders of the province's smaller communities was recommended.

If followed, the merger would result in 24 larger zones of governance.

And Raynor feels change is coming, which is prompting his council - and community - to be proactive in its approach.

“It is something that we definitely have to look forward to down the road,” he added. “If we don’t look at our options we are going to be absorbed by someone bigger.”

But, he admitted, growth for a municipality the size of his isn’t easy.

“We do have the William Callbeck Centre in Bedeque and we are actively trying to get business into that.

“Then we have the P.E.I. Bag Company and we have Linkletter Welding, which are our major employers,” he added.

“As is with any other community we are open to anyone who wants to come and set up shop in Bedeque.”

BEDEQUE — Ron Raynor would like to see his municipality grow.

Raynor is the chairman for the Community of Bedeque and Area, the province's newest municipality.

The newly amalgamated community, comprised of Bedeque and Central Bedeque, was formed last fall but, already, there is talk of even more growth.

At its first annual general meeting, council discussed possible expansion to bring smaller surrounding communities into the fold.

"Something that we are talking about, well, everybody is talking about, is getting a little bit bigger," Raynor said. "We are the first two communities to actually merge together and first two incorporated villages to merge.

"There will be other areas that are going to be coming together."

The Community of Bedeque and Area is small, with only 310 residents.

Its size is a mere 2.2 square kilometres.

In total, there are 73 municipalities in the province.

If the recommendations of the report by the late Judge Ralph C. Thompson are followed that number could get smaller.

Amalgamation was the heart of Thompson's report, that of the Commission on Land and Local Governance, which was released in 2010.

In it, sweeping changes to the borders of the province's smaller communities was recommended.

If followed, the merger would result in 24 larger zones of governance.

And Raynor feels change is coming, which is prompting his council - and community - to be proactive in its approach.

“It is something that we definitely have to look forward to down the road,” he added. “If we don’t look at our options we are going to be absorbed by someone bigger.”

But, he admitted, growth for a municipality the size of his isn’t easy.

“We do have the William Callbeck Centre in Bedeque and we are actively trying to get business into that.

“Then we have the P.E.I. Bag Company and we have Linkletter Welding, which are our major employers,” he added.

“As is with any other community we are open to anyone who wants to come and set up shop in Bedeque.”