The Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure has instructed staff to draft a new policy on so-called surplus land to prevent a situation like the one experienced by one CBS family.
The Telegram is reporting that a CBS family was shocked to notice a new home being built on a piece of land they were forced to leave more than a decade ago.
Their home on Scott’s Road in Upper Gullies was expropriated in order to build Peacekeeper’s Way but now, a new home is being built on the very same piece of land they were forced to vacate.
Minister Barry Petten says in the end, the land in question wasn’t needed, and was listed as surplus and eventually sold.
He told reporters yesterday that not having a policy dictating how those types of transactions occur didn’t sit well with him and he’s asked staff to draft a land disposition policy to prevent similar situations in future.
“Back then, in 2017, they (the new land owners) approached the department…to buy the land and the land sale was done and they just sold the land to them. Which was fine then, I mean there were no rules broken then I guess, essentially, but it was not driven by policy. So, I’m changing that.”
