FREDERICTON - Matthew Hayes, mayoral candidate for Fredericton, launched his platform at the Brookside Mall on April 3rd to an audience of local residents.
He explained his first platform point, “Complete Communities”, which focuses on making neighbourhoods more liveable, energy efficient, and walkable. This could be done by encouraging a coordinated mix of housing, businesses and recreation within the same area.
Hayes pointed out some of the existing opportunities that could make Fredericton a more accessible city.
“I see how the City’s planning process could have nudged this area into a complete community if it had put people first,” he said of the Brookside Mall area. “Instead we have residential areas right up against shopping areas with no safe way to access either without having to spend on gas. We need to ask a little bit more of developers, and to really keep in mind the needs of residents.”
Retrofitting older neighbourhoods, or planning new ones designed around people’s daily needs would help residents save on rising energy costs.
“We should be finding efficient ways to meet our needs, because the cost of energy is rising,” Hayes says. “Complete Community developments would allow Fredericton to do that.”
For more information on Matthew Hayes or his campaign, visit www.hayesformayor.ca.
