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A new report highlights the most vulnerable communities in the Halifax region for emergency access, and how they can be improved through new roads or crisis planning.<\/p>\n
In a staff report to council Tuesday,<\/a> a consulting team led by HDR Corporation examined more than 360 communities across the Halifax Regional Municipality, ranking the top 100 worst ones for egress issues.<\/p>\n Terence Bay on the Atlantic coast, Indigo Shores in Middle Sackville, and Upper Hammonds Plains were listed as the top three.<\/p>\n Curtis Whiley has family roots in Upper Hammonds Plains and leads a co-op housing project<\/a> in the area.<\/p>\n He said residents have been raising egress concerns even before the Upper Tantallon wildfire in 2023,<\/a> and the recent Pockwock Road development boom brought<\/a> more residents to the area.<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s not surprising, but it is validating,\u201d Whiley, CEO of the Upper Hammonds Plains Community Land Trust, said Wednesday.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s almost like bittersweet in a sense. I’m glad that there’s some robust, you know, research that validates and elevates the feelings that community members have been feeling for some time.\u201d<\/p>\n The rankings were made using a tool that considered road networks, population demographics like age and income, and exposure to hazards like wildfire and floods.\u00a0<\/p>\n The report said the tool was created uniquely for Halifax, and while the results do not necessarily mean the communities are unsafe, they are one piece to consider when looking at emergency risk.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is massive and it’s going to take us a long time to, you know, really understand what this means, kind of in earnest, for all the communities represented,” said Coun. Nancy Hartling of Prospect Road-St. Margarets, who represents Terence Bay and multiple communities in the top 25.<\/p>\n A new community group called Pockwock Corridor SAFE (Safety Access and Fire Egress) has brought together residents from White Hills, Perry Pond, Upper Hammonds Plains, Maplewood, and Glen Arbour to push for new connector roads in the area. <\/p>\n They also say there should be no new development in the meantime, besides projects completed through the Upper Hammonds Plains Community Land Trust.<\/p>\n \u201cWe lived it. We feel it. The PTSD in this neighborhood is real,\u201d Patrick Wheaton of Pockwock SAFE said Wednesday, about the trauma left behind after the 2023 wildfire.<\/p>\n \u201cThey will have blood on their hands if they have another emergency and people die. It shouldn’t take somebody to die to have this issue fixed.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1784317156_670_default.jpg\")
Curtis Whiley, CEO of the Upper Hammonds Plains Community Land Trust, says resident have long been raising the alarm about Pockwock Road being the only way in and out of the community for many people. (CBC)<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1784317156_306_default.jpg\")
Patrick Wheaton of Pockwock Corridor SAFE (Safety Access and Fire Egress) says he hopes to see Halifax partner with utilities like Nova Scotia Power to use their lands for new roads to connect subdivisions around Upper Hammonds Plains. (Haley Ryan\/CBC)<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1784317157_434_default.jpg\")
New development projects along the Pockwock Road in Upper Hammonds Plains in June 2026. (Brian MacKay\/CBC)<\/p>\n