{"id":9586,"date":"2025-11-15T08:51:15","date_gmt":"2025-11-15T11:51:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/2025\/11\/15\/former-bathurst-mill-land-approved-for-modular-housing-for-homeless-people\/"},"modified":"2025-11-15T08:51:15","modified_gmt":"2025-11-15T11:51:15","slug":"former-bathurst-mill-land-approved-for-modular-housing-for-homeless-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/2025\/11\/15\/former-bathurst-mill-land-approved-for-modular-housing-for-homeless-people\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Bathurst mill land approved for modular housing for homeless people"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>New BrunswickThe homeless population in the northern city of Bathurst has been growing in recent years, the mayor and the manager of the local food bank say.Between 28 and 40 units will be placed on part of the property for one yearVictoria Walton  \u00b7 CBC News  \u00b7 Posted: Nov 15, 2025 5:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 2 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 5 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by text-to-speech, a technology based on artificial intelligence.The modular units will be placed on a portion of the former Smurfit Stone Mill land, at the corner of Murray Ave. and Bridge Street in Bathurst. (CBC)A temporary zoning change to allow up to 40 modular housing units on the former Smurfit-Stone property in Bathurst has been approved by the city\u2019s planning advisory committee.The units will provide shelter for residents who are homeless or precariously housed and will be run by the Chaleur Regional Service Commission.\u201cThat was the last of the big administrative hurdles that led to the development of this project,\u201d said Jennifer Pitre, director of community development with the commission.\u201dSo now we can really move forward with purchasing these pods and getting things operational on site.\u201dBetween 28 and 40 modular units will be placed on the site for one year. The exact number depends on the cost of the units, Pitre said.WATCH |  \u2018We want to get things up off the ground and running as quickly as possible\u2019:Modular housing coming to Bathurst for people struggling with homelessnessThe Bathurst planning advisory committee has approved using land on the former Smurfit-Stone mill site for up to 40 modular housing units next year.\u201cWe\u2019re waiting for the proposals to come back to determine how much they\u2019re going to cost individually. \u2026  In a perfect world, we\u2019ll be able to get all 40.\u201dThe precise designs will depend on the proposals the commission receives, but the units will be pre-fabricated, each with at least a bed, desk and its own entry. Some configurations include a washroom in each unit, while others have shared washrooms.  The Chaleur Regional Service Commission currently operates a 10-bed shelter in Bathurst, which will close once the modular units open on the former mill property. Jennifer Pitre of the Chaleur Regional Service Commission says the exact number of units will be determined by the cost.  (Victoria Walton\/CBC)Pitre said that shelter is full every night. The most recent count found that about 40 chronically homeless people were living on the street in the northern New Brunswick city, and another 40 were \u201cextremely precariously housed.\u201dOnce the new development is up and running, at least two staff will be on site at all times, offering wraparound services such as counselling and helping people work toward long-term housing options.\u201cWe\u2019ll have residential support workers, people who can connect the clients to the community, resources for people who are looking to work on a housing plan and then find sustainable housing for themselves,\u201d Pitre said. \u201cThat\u2019ll all be available on site.\u201dGrowing need in Bathurst areaBathurst Mayor Kim Chamberlain said she\u2019s seen the population of homeless people in the area grow significantly in the past five or so years.\u201cHomelessness is definitely a file, where in 2021 we barely had any. And today, we are in this situation,\u201d Chamberlain said.Mayor Kim Chamberlain attributes the growing number of homeless people in Bathurst to the increased cost of living. (Victoria Walton\/CBC)\u201cWe did not have a lot of the homeless encampments, or sleeping in tents. But it\u2019s the reality, you know, cost of living and everything else that has increased.\u201dMichel Godin, manager of the Bathurst Volunteer Centre, agreed. The centre has operated a soup kitchen and food bank for more than 30 years.\u201cThe food bank right now is probably the highest it\u2019s ever been. We are serving over 500 families monthly. We help approximately 80 to 90 people with lunch at our soup kitchen every day.\u201dMichel Godin, who manages the Bathurst Volunteer Centre, says the number of people dealing with homelessness in Bathurst is growing. (R\u00e9al Fradette\/Radio-Canada)Godin said the site for the new housing is centrally located, so people living in the modular units will still be able to access the soup kitchen, which he expects will have a positive effect.\u201cThe important part of the plan is there would be wraparound services to ensure that people who want help and want to get out of homelessness, you know, can follow steps and find a way out and stay housed once they are,\u201d Godin said.Positive reaction so farThe Chaleur Regional Service Commission held a public information session for the wider Bathurst community, the reaction from residents was generally supportive.\u201cOf course some people have concerns, but the NIMBYism isn\u2019t terribly strong,\u201d she said.Pitre said she herself lives only six houses away from the site.\u201cI\u2019m that confident in my team and in the structure of the policies, the procedures, and I believe enough in the project and what it is that we\u2019re doing that I\u2019m building it in my own backyard,\u201d she said.A mock-up from the Chaleur Regional Service Commission shows the location where the modular units will be, but Pitre says the depicted configuration may change. (Chaleur Regional Service Commission)The site will include security cameras, and will be surrounded by a fence. There\u2019s also a \u201cgood neighbour plan\u201d to ensure residents respect things such as quiet hours and the need to keep the site clean.Pitre said that after the one-year zoning allowance is up, she hopes the modular units will find a permanent home somewhere else in the city.There is already a request for proposals for the units themselves, which Pitre hopes can be open by late 2025 or early 2026.\u201cThe timeline to get these open for us, of course, is yesterday, and as soon as possible,\u201d Pitre said. \u201cBut we\u2019re still at the mercy of the contractors who will be building these units and having them installed.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New BrunswickThe homeless population in the northern city of Bathurst has been growing in recent years, the mayor and the manager of the local food bank say.Between 28 and 40 units will be placed on part of the property for one yearVictoria Walton \u00b7 CBC News \u00b7 Posted: Nov 15, 2025 5:00 AM EST | [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9587,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[118,125,1],"tags":[116,124],"class_list":["post-9586","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-indigenous","category-new-brunswick","category-uncategorized","tag-indigenous","tag-new-brunswick"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9586","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9586"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9586\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9587"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}