Service NB will move from downtown Fredericton in June

The Service New Brunswick offices in Fredericton will change locations at the end of June. They will be transferred to the Brookside shopping center, to the north of the city, to the great dismay of pedestrians.

The province announced the move almost a year ago. It is finally on June 21 and 22 that the downtown offices will be closed to allow the transition. Services NB will open its doors at the Brookside Shopping Center on June 24.

years”,”text”:”We have been downtown for 25 years”}}”>We’ve been downtown for 25 yearsunderlined Thursday the minister responsible for Service New Brunswick, Mary Wilson.

Last year, when the move was announced, she did not want to comment on the reasons for this decision. A spokesperson for his ministry indicated that more details would be available closer to the move.

THURSDAY, Mary Wilson confirmed that the measure was taken to reduce operating costs.

It was this year that the lease was due to be renewed. So last year we started looking for premises that would better suit our needs, taking into account population growth.she said.

Nothing else was available downtown, says the minister.

When asked what was wrong with the Queen Street location, Mary Wilson replied that we must be accountable to our taxpayers and if we can find ways to save taxpayer funds, we absolutely must do so.

A ministry spokeswoman estimates the move will save about $400,000 a year.

A move that not everyone likes

The leader of the Green Party of New Brunswick and MP for the region, David Coonsaid to himself dismayed of the decision.

Many people who do not have vehicles in this corner of the city, as a large part of the population lives in poverty. Not counting the homelesshe lamented.

The General Manager of Downtown Fredericton, Bruce McCormack, is for his part disappointed. It’s a missed opportunity for the downtown core to benefit from the economic benefits generated by Service NB, he said.

Last year, citizens interviewed by CBC had also shared their concerns about the move. Among other things, we were concerned about the difficulty of accessing services for people without vehicles.

In response to criticism, Mary Wilson reminds that many people live in the Brookside neighborhood, which should balance things.

She also affirms that active transportation will make it easy to get to the new Services NB offices and that in any case, the majority of people request services online.

According to information from Hannah Rudderham of CBC