A controversial proposal to build a village of emergency shelters for the homeless in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality may have found a new home, but a city councillor says the new residents may not be welcome.

Lorne Green, councillor for the 12th district, says the problem is not the location, but the accommodations themselves.

“It’s really not much more than a pimped-out tent, that’s the problem. And none of these buildings have water and sewer hookups, so you can’t have housing without water and sewer hookups,” Green said.

“Pallet houses are not the solution. Do they give homeless people their dignity? I don’t think so.”

Green said the Nova Scotia government should instead focus on the stock of social housing around CBRM, some of which is vacant and could be used to house homeless people.

The province is spending more than $7 million to build 200 emergency shelters in several communities. They are being manufactured by Pallet PBC, an American nonprofit company.

Sydney-based New Dawn Enterprises has partnered with the Ally Centre of Cape Breton to provide 30 units for CBRM, initially on a provincial government property on Railroad Street in Sydney’s Whitney Pier neighbourhood.

New Dawn plans to build 30 pallet shelters on its property in the Pine Tree Park neighbourhood, the former site of a government radar station near Sydney’s Whitney Pier. (Tom Ayers/CBC)

But after several public meetings earlier this year in which neighbors voiced strong opposition to the proposed Pallet Village, New Dawn has decided to move the housing to its own property in Pine Tree Park, a former government radar station that has been converted into a public housing development not far from Whitney Pier.

Green, who represents the area for CBRM, said some Pine Tree Park residents have told him they are concerned about their potential new neighbors.

The social enterprise agency appears to be failing to fulfill its mandate to create housing, but is instead dealing with addiction issues and homelessness, Green said.

“I think New Dawn is just chasing money here … because it’s all about the money that could ultimately go to New Dawn,” he said.

In a letter to Pine Tree Park residents and workers, CEO Erika Shea said New Dawn is considering the site as a location for a pallet village after holding several meetings with the province and CBRM senior staff.

“We obviously had a lot of concerns about the safety of future villagers and staff on Railroad Street, so we all went back to the drawing board from scratch,” she said.

The Nova Scotia government is purchasing 200 pallet shelters, like those seen in this file photo, at a cost of about $7 million to provide temporary housing for the homeless. (Jim Meyers/VerizonPhoto)

This property is the only provincially owned land that is suitable, and CBRM has no surplus land on which to build the shelters, Shea said.

Pine Tree Park is ideal because it is accessible by public transportation and is already a neighborhood in its own right, she said.

“Pine Tree is semi-secluded, but it is also part of a community. It is also a place where villagers and village staff can build relationships with neighbors and participate in the activities at Pine Tree Park, so the best of both worlds.”

In an email, the province’s Ministry of Community Services confirmed that it was “in the process of finalizing the location details of Pine Tree Park, including site planning and land leasing.”

New Dawn will hold a private meeting with residents and workers at Pine Tree Park next month to inform them of the plan.

Shea said Pallet has built villages in hundreds of communities and they have been approved by provincial engineers.

Erika Shea, CEO of New Dawn Enterprises, says pallet shelters are safe, warm and dignified and provide 24/7 support services for people experiencing homelessness. (Tom Ayers/CBC)

She said two people living in a tent in New Brunswick recently died in a fire and that the pallet shelters are safe, warm, dignified and equipped with supportive services.

“I would choose a pallet shelter over a tent in the woods any day,” Shea said.

She also said that Green’s comment about chasing money was wrong.

“If we could make money by housing the homeless, there would be no homelessness in Nova Scotia.”

Shea said the delayed site selection has further traumatized people already going through a difficult time and that the shelters at Pine Tree Park could open as early as July.

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