Municipality of the District of Chester

Municipal Council

The Municipality of Chester has a town council that consists of 7 councillors and a warden who is appointed by the council, the municipal council was incorporated and founded in 1879. Elections to the council occur every four years unless there is a vacancy. If there is a vacancy in a district, a by-election occurs and the person who is elected will serve their term until the next scheduled election in the four-year cycle.

Municipal Districts

• District 1: includes the communities Aspotogan, Bayswater, Blandford, Northwest Cove, Deep Cove, East River, and part of East Chester.
• District 2: Hubbards, Mill Cove, Fox Point, Simms Settlement, Mill Lake, and The Lodge.
• District 3: Chester village and part of East Chester.
• District 4: Chester Basin, Chester Grant, and part of Middle River.
• District 5: Gold River, Beech Hill, Western Shore, Martin's Point, and part of Martin's River.
• District 6: Seffernsville, Lake Ramsay, Forties, Franey Corner, and Fraxville.
• District 7: Windsor Road, Canaan, Sherwood, and Marriotts Cove.

Council Sessions

The current warden of the Municipality is Allen Webber, and the current deputy warden is Floyd Shatford

*Following the 2021 Nova Scotia general election, District 3 councillor Danielle Barkhouse was elected as MLA to the riding of Chester-St. Margaret's. Following her election, she tendered her resignation from the municipal council, triggering a special election where Derek Wells was elected councillor, for the remainder of the 2020-2024 council session.

Nova Scotian Municipal politics do not have party affiliations.

Departments and services

There are four departments in the district:

• Community Development & Recreation
• Corporate & Strategic Management
• Financial & Information Services
• Infrastructure & Operations

Demographics

|1981|10230 |1986|10579 |1991|10762 |1996|10602 |2001|10781 |2006|10741 |2011|10599 |2016|10310 |2021|10693

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the Municipality of the District of Chester had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of 1120.61 km2, it had a population density of in 2021.

Parks, playgrounds and open spaces

The municipality operates 46 km of trail on the former railway from Martins River to Hubbards. The trails are open to walkers, off-road vehicles, cyclists and horseback riders.

Parks and outdoor areas include Anvil Park in Chester Basin, East River Property, Village of Chester Gazebo, Wild Rose Park in Western Shore, a Green Gym Park in Chester Basin, Castle Rock in East River. There are six beaches along the coast, public wharves and launches, and several islands preserved for public use (including four owned by the Municipality of Chester).

The Municipality of the District of Chester also has two playgrounds; Croft Road Playground located in Chester Basin and Gold River Playground located at the former Gold River Elementary School.

Within the Village of Chester there is a skate park that was opened in 2009 after five years of planning and fundraising.

Schools

The Municipality of the District of Chester has five schools within its boundaries. All five are open to the public for community use. These schools are Forest Heights Community School (FHCS) in Chester Grant; Aspotogan Consolidated Elementary School (ACES) in Mill Cove; Chester Area Middle School in Chester; Chester District Elementary School in Chester, and New Ross Consolidated School in New Ross.

Economy

The Municipality identifies five sectors: arts, culture & recreation; business services; construction; green industries; and niche manufacturing.

Arts, Culture & Recreation

The Municipality has a high concentration of arts, entertainment, and recreation workers with artist-in-residents programs, galleries, a theatre, golf courses, museums, marinas, and the first and only Nordic spa in Nova Scotia. Productions filmed in the Municipality include:

• Moonshine
• The Sinner
• Good House
• Candles on Bay Street
• Christmas With Holly
• Delores Claiborne
• Haven
• The Curse of Oak Island
• The Healer
• Two if by Sea
• Feudal

References

References

1. [http://www12.statcan.ca/census-recensement/2011/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo1=CSD&Code1=1206009&Geo2=CD&Code2=1206&Data=Count&SearchText=chester&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=01&B1=All&Custom=&TABID=1 2011 Statistics Canada Community Profile: Chester Municipal District, Nova Scotia]
2. "The Establishment of Elective Rural Municipal Government in Nova Scotia". Government of Nova Scotia: Department of Municipal Affairs.
3. (April 22, 1999). "Municipal Government Act, Part XVII: Municipal Incorporation". Office of the Legislative Counsel.
4. "Interim List of Changes to Municipal Boundaries, Status, and Names: From January 2, 2014 to January 1, 2015 (Table A: Census subdivision types by province and territory, as of January 1, 2015)". Statistics Canada.
5. (2018-04-12). "Government".
6. (2018-04-14). "Council".
7. (2021-09-09). "District 3 Special Election".
8. "RESULTS: 2016 Municipal and School Board Election".
9. "Nova Scotian Municipal Government Act".
10. "Administration".
11. [[Canada 1996 Census. 1996]], [[Canada 2001 Census. 2001]], [[Canada 2006 Census. 2006]] census
12. (February 9, 2022). "Population and dwelling counts: Canada, provinces and territories, census divisions and census subdivisions (municipalities), Nova Scotia". [[Statistics Canada]].
13. [http://www12.statcan.ca/census-recensement/2006/dp-pd/prof/92-591/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo1=CSD&Code1=1206009&Geo2=PR&Code2=13&Data=Count&SearchText=Chester&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=01&B1=Custom&Custom=1000,7000,8000 2006 Statistics Canada Community Profile: Chester Municipal District, Nova Scotia]
14. "Municipality of the District of Chester - Trails in the Municipality".
15. "Municipality of the District of Chester - Parks & Open Spaces".
16. "Municipal Islands {{!}} Municipality of The District of Chester, Nova Scotia".
17. "Municipality of the District of Chester - Playgrounds".
18. "Municipality of the District of Chester - Chester Skate Park".
19. "Municipality of the District of Chester - Community Schools".
20. "Home".
21. "Aspotogan Consolidated Elementary School {{!}} Mill Cove, Nova Scotia".
22. "Chester Area Middle School".
23. "Chester District School".
24. "New Ross Consolidated School {{!}} Empowering and supporting youth in education".
25. "Key Sectors of The Municipality of Chester".
26. Cooke, Stephen. "Nova Scotia-shot series Moonshine returns in October, season 3 underway {{!}} SaltWire".
27. Staff, OtakuKart. (2021-10-02). "'Moonshine' CBC Filming Locations: Where Is The Canadian Drama Shot? - OtakuKart".
28. Cooke, Stephen. "Don't get on the bad side of Moonshine's family in Hubbards-shot CBC comedy {{!}} SaltWire".
29. (2021-10-14). "'The Sinner' Season 4 Filming Location Was Not Hanover Island".
30. Cooke, Stephen. "The Good House feature film brings Hollywood to Chester {{!}} SaltWire".
31. "TIFF 2021: Sigourney Weaver got a warm Nova Scotia welcome filming 'The Good House' with Kevin Kline".
32. "Candles on Bay Street (TV Movie 2006) - IMDb".
33. "Christmas with Holly (TV Movie 2012) - IMDb".
34. "Dolores Claiborne (1995) - IMDb".
35. "Haven (TV Series 2010–2015) - IMDb".
36. "Oak Island".
37. "The Healer (2016) - IMDb".
38. "Two If by Sea (1996) - IMDb".
39. Cooke, Stephen. "New South Shore-set comedy-drama series Feudal begins production in Nova Scotia {{!}} SaltWire".