The Municipality of the District of Chester is a
Nova Scotia district municipality occupying the northeastern half of
Lunenburg County, Canada.
The district boundary was originally drawn for court sessional purposes,
before the existence of elected local government. In 1879 it became a district municipality, to provide local government to the residents who live outside incorporated towns.
[ under the authority of the ''Municipal Government Act'' of 1998.]
Municipal Council
The Municipality of Chester has a town council that consists of 7 councillors and a warden who is appointed by the council, the municipal council was incorporated and founded in 1879. Elections to the council occur every four years unless there is a vacancy. If there is a vacancy in a district, a by-election occurs and the person who is elected will serve their term until the next scheduled election in the four-year cycle.
Municipal Districts
* District 1: includes the communities Aspotogan, Bayswater, Blandford
Blandford Forum ( ), commonly Blandford, is a market town in Dorset, England, sited by the River Stour about northwest of Poole. It was the administrative headquarters of North Dorset District until April 2019, when this was abolished and ...
, Northwest Cove, Deep Cove, East River
The East River is a saltwater tidal estuary in New York City. The waterway, which is actually not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates the borough of Quee ...
, and part of East Chester.
* District 2: Hubbards, Mill Cove
Mill Cove () is a cove entered between Cape Anderson and Valette Island on the south coast of Laurie Island, in the South Orkney Islands off Antarctica. It was charted in 1903 by the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition under William Speirs Bru ...
, Fox Point, Simms Settlement, Mill Lake, and The Lodge.
* District 3: Chester village and part of East Chester.
* District 4: Chester Basin, Chester Grant, and part of Middle River.
* District 5: Gold River, Beech Hill, Western Shore, Martin's Point, and part of Martin's River.
* District 6: Seffernsville, Lake Ramsay, Forties, Franey Corner, and Fraxville.
* District 7: Windsor Road, Canaan
Canaan (; Phoenician: 𐤊𐤍𐤏𐤍 – ; he, כְּנַעַן – , in pausa – ; grc-bib, Χανααν – ;The current scholarly edition of the Greek Old Testament spells the word without any accents, cf. Septuaginta : id est Vetus T ...
, Sherwood, and Marriotts Cove.
Council Sessions
The current warden of the Municipality is Allen Webber, and the current deputy warden is Floyd Shatford2021 Nova Scotia general election
The 2021 Nova Scotia general election was held on August 17, 2021, to elect members to the 64th General Assembly of Nova Scotia.
In April 2019, the Electoral Boundaries Commission released its final report entitled, ''Balancing Effective Repres ...
, District 3 councillor Danielle Barkhouse
Danielle Barkhouse is a Canadian politician, who was elected to the Nova Scotia House of Assembly in the 2021 Nova Scotia general election. She represents the riding of Chester-St. Margaret's as a member of the Progressive Conservative Associatio ...
was elected as MLA to the riding of Chester-St. Margaret's. Following her election, she tendered her resignation from the municipal council, triggering a special election where Derek Wells was elected councillor, for the remainder of the 2020-2024 council session.''
''Nova Scotian Municipal politics do not have party affiliations.''
Departments and services
There are four departments in the district:
* Community Development & Recreation
* Corporate & Strategic Management
* Financial & Information Services
* Infrastructure & Operations
Demographics
In the 2021 Census of Population
The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sli ...
conducted by Statistics Canada, the Municipality of the District of Chester had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.
Parks, playgrounds and open spaces
The municipality operates of trail on the former railway from Martins River to Hubbards. The trails are open to walkers, off-road vehicles, cyclists and horseback riders.
Parks and outdoor areas include Anvil Park in Chester Basin, East River Property, Village of Chester Gazebo, Wild Rose Park in Western Shore, a Green Gym Park in Chester Basin, Castle Rock in East River. There are six beaches along the coast, public wharves and launches, and several islands preserved for public use (including four owned by the Municipality of Chester).
The Municipality of the District of Chester also has two playgrounds; Croft Road Playground located in Chester Basin and Gold River Playground located at the former Gold River Elementary School.
Within the Village of Chester there is a skate park that was opened in 2009 after five years of planning and fundraising.
Schools
The Municipality of the District of Chester has five schools within its boundaries. All five are open to the public for community use. These schools are Forest Heights Community School (FHCS) in Chester Grant; Aspotogan Consolidated Elementary School (ACES) in Mill Cove; Chester Area Middle School in Chester; Chester District Elementary School in Chester, and New Ross Consolidated School in New Ross.
Economy
The Municipality identifies five sectors: arts, culture & recreation; business services; construction; green industries; and niche manufacturing.
Arts, Culture & Recreation
The Municipality has a high concentration of arts, entertainment, and recreation workers wit
artist-in-residents programs
galleries,
theatre
golf courses, museums, marinas, and the first and onl
Nordic spa
in Nova Scotia. Productions filmed in the Municipality include:
* '' Moonshine''
* '' The Sinner''
* '' Good House''
* '' Candles on Bay Street''
* ''Christmas With Holly
''Christmas with Holly'' is a 2012 made-for-TV film based on the 2010 book '' Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor'' by Lisa Kleypas. It originally aired on ABC as a Hallmark Hall of Fame film on December 9, 2012, starring Eloise Mumford and Sean Fa ...
''
* ''Delores Claiborne''
* '' Haven''
* '' The Curse of Oak Island''
* ''The Healer''
* '' Two if by Sea''
* ''Feudal''
References
{{Authority control
Communities in Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia
Chester