ARICHAT - This week's regular monthly meeting of Richmond Municipal Council saw a pitch from the Strait Area Chamber of Commerce for Richmond and the nearby Town of Port Hawkesbury to form a new housing association, just as a municipal councillor reported interest in developing affordable housing within her district. 

The Strait Area Chamber of Commerce and its new executive director, Tanya Felix, have reached out to the county and the town to partner with the chamber on a new body that would solicit support for affordable housing development and overall housing growth within the region. 

While the two municipalities and their respective municipal leaders already operate the Strait-Richmond Housing Matters Coalition, Richmond Warden Amanda Mombourquette suggested that the concept of a new housing association with the chamber's support could assist Richmond County and the Strait region in general. She noted that Felix has made housing development a top chamber priority since succeeding Misty MacDonald in the executive director's chair this past April. 

The warden also noted that Port Hawkesbury Town Council has met with Sydney-based New Dawn Enterprises to discuss affordable-housing possibilities for the town, and Warden Mombourquette suggested that the county could also benefit from the information gleaned from these discussions. 

Later in the same meeting, District Three councillor Melanie Sampson - whose constituency takes in the centrally-located community of Louisdale as well as the bulk of western Richmond County - noted that she has received an e-mail from a potential affordable housing developer in her area who is trying to figure out who to contact to launch the project.

At the advice of her council colleagues, Sampson agreed to forward the information from the developer in question to Richmond Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Troy MacCulloch to be reviewed by municipal staff.