As work continues on the Cleantech Innovation Centre in Georgetown, P.E.I., one resident is concerned that a number of trees have to be cut down to connect a business park associated with the project to the municipality’s water and sewer system.
The centre will be an educational and business hub for clean technology that can reduce environmental and climate imapcts. In addition to the 44,000-square-foot centre, the project also includes a 25-hectare business park.
The 26 trees that need to be cut down to accommodate the water and sewer work are along Kent Street in the eastern P.E.I. community.
The work includes upgrades to existing water and sewer lines, installing a new sanitary main on the west side of Kent Street and a new water main that will run to Maple Crescent on the other side of the road.
Georgetown resident Peter Llewellyn says some of the trees that are expected to be removed are far away from the construction project. (Taylor O’Brien/CBC)
Georgetown resident Peter Llewellyn said the trees have stood in the community for decades.
“Any community, you know, has to have tree cover and so on,” he said. “These have been here for, I should say, from 30 to 60 years or plus.”
‘It doesn’t make sense’
Llewellyn said the trees are between 12 and 30 feet away from where the new water main will be installed, which he said should be enough room for crews to complete the work without needing to cut them down.
“I’m a little perplexed about how you can have a tree 30 feet from the road and you can’t find a four-foot slot without taking the tree down,” he said.
“It’s a failure in critical thinking…. It’s something that you know, you look at it and you say, ‘How could you decide to cut all these trees down?'”
The province’s Department of Economic Development, Innovation and Trade said in a statement that the trees being removed are believed to be on the properties of Holland College, Bell Aliant and Seafood Supreme.
It said connecting the Cleantech Business Park to Georgetown’s existing water and sewer system is a necessary step.
A number of trees along Kent Street have been marked with orange tape to signify that they will be removed during construction on Georgetown’s municipal water and sewer system. (Taylor O’Brien/CBC)
“After considering many options on how to connect to the local system, and after discussing with town officials, it was determined that the best path forward would be to pursue sewer connection on Kent Street and concurrently install a sewer replacement as per the town’s request,” the statement reads.
“These are part of the contributing factors that went into the decision to remove 26 trees from this area.”
The province added that all of the trees will be replaced through a planting program.
The water and sewer work will start in the coming weeks and is expected to take about four months. Construction on the Cleantech Innovation Centre is scheduled to finish by summer 2026.