Municipality of the District of Chester

This article is about the district municipality. For the village, see Chester, Nova Scotia.

The Municipality of the District of Chester is a Nova Scotia district municipality occupying the northeastern half of Lunenburg County, Canada.

Chester
District municipality
Municipality of the District of Chester
Seal
Motto:  Nova Scotia's Treasure
Location of the Municipality of the District of Chester
Coordinates: 44°39′N 64°18′W / 44.65°N 64.3°W / 44.65; -64.3
Country	Canada
Province	Nova Scotia
County	Lunenburg
Incorporated	April 17, 1879
Electoral Districts     Federal	South Shore—St. Margaret's
Provincial	Chester-St. Margaret's / Lunenburg
Government
• Type	Municipal Council
• Municipal Seat	Chester
• Warden	Allen Webber
Area ^[1]
• Land	1,122.11 km^2 (433.25 sq mi)
Population  (2021)
• Total	10,693
• Change 2016-21	3.7%
Time zone	UTC-4 (AST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-3 (ADT)
Area code	902 - 275
Dwellings	6,482
Average Income*	$47,360 CDN
Website	Official website
Average 2020 total income

The district boundary was originally drawn for court sessional purposes,^[2] before the existence of elected local government. In 1879 it became a district municipality, to provide local government to the residents who live outside incorporated towns.^[2] under the authority of the Municipal Government Act of 1998.^[3]

The Municipality of the District of Chester is also a census division for Statistics Canada.^[4]

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.^[5]

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^[6]

Current Council Session, 2020-2024^[6]

Party	District	Name
No Affiliation	1	Andre Veinotte
No Affiliation	2	Floyd Shatford
No Affiliation	3	Derek Wells
No Affiliation	4	Allen Webber
No Affiliation	5	Abdella Assaff
No Affiliation	6	Tina Connors
No Affiliation	7	Sharon Church

*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.^[7]

2016-2020 Council Session^[8]

Party	District	Name
No Affiliation	1	Andre Veinotte
No Affiliation	2	Floyd Shatford
No Affiliation	3	Danielle Barkhouse
No Affiliation	4	Allen Webber
No Affiliation	5	Abdella Assaff
No Affiliation	6	Tina Connors
No Affiliation	7	Sharon Church

Nova Scotian Municipal politics do not have party affiliations.^[9]

Departments and services

There are four departments in the district:^[10]

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

Demographics

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±%
1981	10,230	—
1986	10,579	+3.4%
1991	10,762	+1.7%
1996	10,602	−1.5%
2001	10,781	+1.7%
2006	10,741	−0.4%
2011	10,599	−1.3%
2016	10,310	−2.7%
2021	10,693	+3.7%
Source: Statistics Canada:^[11]^[12]

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the Municipality of the District of Chester had a population of 10,693 living in 5,028 of its 6,482 total private dwellings, a change of 3.7% from its 2016 population of 10,310. With a land area of 1,120.61 km² (432.67 sq mi), it had a population density of 9.5/km² (24.7/sq mi) in 2021.^[12]

Mother tongue language (2006)^[13]

Language	Population	Pct (%)
English only	10,145	95.40%
Other languages	365	3.43%
French only	110	1.03%
Both English and French	15	0.14%

Parks, playgrounds and open spaces

The municipality operates 46 kilometres (29 mi) of trail on the former railway from Martins River to Hubbards. The trails are open to walkers, off-road vehicles, cyclists and horseback riders.^[14]

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.^[15] 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).^[16]

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.^[17]

Within the Village of Chester there is a skate park that was opened in 2009 after five years of planning and fundraising.^[18]

Schools

The Municipality of the District of Chester has five schools within its boundaries. All five are open to the public for community use.^[19] These schools are Forest Heights Community School (FHCS)^[20] in Chester Grant; Aspotogan Consolidated Elementary School (ACES) ^[21] in Mill Cove; Chester Area Middle School ^[22] in Chester; Chester District Elementary School ^[23] in Chester, and New Ross Consolidated School ^[24] in New Ross.

Economy

The Municipality identifies five sectors: arts, culture & recreation; business services; construction; green industries; and niche manufacturing.^[25]

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^[26][27][28]
• The Sinner^[29]
• Good House^[30][31]
• Candles on Bay Street^[32]
• Christmas With Holly^[33]
• Delores Claiborne^[34]
• Haven^[35]
• The Curse of Oak Island^[36]
• The Healer^[37]
• Two if by Sea^[38]
• Feudal^[39]

References

1. 2011 Statistics Canada Community Profile: Chester Municipal District, Nova Scotia
2. "The Establishment of Elective Rural Municipal Government in Nova Scotia" (PDF). Government of Nova Scotia: Department of Municipal Affairs. pp. 1, 2. Retrieved December 27, 2016.
3. "Municipal Government Act, Part XVII: Municipal Incorporation". Office of the Legislative Counsel. April 22, 1999. Retrieved December 10, 2016.
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. Retrieved January 9, 2017.
5. "Government". Municipality of The District of Chester, Nova Scotia. 2018-04-12. Retrieved 2022-01-05.
6. "Council". Municipality of The District of Chester, Nova Scotia. 2018-04-14. Retrieved 2022-01-05.
7. "District 3 Special Election". Municipality of The District of Chester, Nova Scotia. 2021-09-09. Retrieved 2022-01-05.
8. News. "RESULTS: 2016 Municipal and School Board Election". CKBW. Retrieved 2022-01-05. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
9. "Nova Scotian Municipal Government Act" (PDF).{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
10. "Administration". Chester. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
11. 1996, 2001, 2006 census
12. "Population and dwelling counts: Canada, provinces and territories, census divisions and census subdivisions (municipalities), Nova Scotia". Statistics Canada. February 9, 2022. Retrieved March 12, 2022.
13. 2006 Statistics Canada Community Profile: Chester Municipal District, Nova Scotia
14. "Municipality of the District of Chester - Trails in the Municipality". chester.ca. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
15. "Municipality of the District of Chester - Parks & Open Spaces". chester.ca. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
16. "Municipal Islands | Municipality of The District of Chester, Nova Scotia". chester.ca. Retrieved 2022-11-15.
17. "Municipality of the District of Chester - Playgrounds". chester.ca. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
18. "Municipality of the District of Chester - Chester Skate Park". chester.ca. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
19. "Municipality of the District of Chester - Community Schools". chester.ca. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
20. "Home". forestheights.ednet.ns.ca. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
21. "Aspotogan Consolidated Elementary School | Mill Cove, Nova Scotia". www.aces.ednet.ns.ca. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
22. "Chester Area Middle School". cams.ednet.ns.ca. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
23. "Chester District School". Chester District School. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
24. "New Ross Consolidated School | Empowering and supporting youth in education". www.nrcs.ednet.ns.ca. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
25. "Key Sectors of The Municipality of Chester". www.investchester.ca. Retrieved 2022-11-15.
26. Cooke, Stephen. "Nova Scotia-shot series Moonshine returns in October, season 3 underway | SaltWire". www.saltwire.com. Retrieved 2022-11-15.
27. Staff, OtakuKart (2021-10-02). "'Moonshine' CBC Filming Locations: Where Is The Canadian Drama Shot? - OtakuKart". otakukart.com. Retrieved 2022-11-15.
28. Cooke, Stephen. "Don't get on the bad side of Moonshine's family in Hubbards-shot CBC comedy | SaltWire". www.saltwire.com. Retrieved 2022-11-15.
29. "'The Sinner' Season 4 Filming Location Was Not Hanover Island". Decider. 2021-10-14. Retrieved 2022-11-15.
30. Cooke, Stephen. "The Good House feature film brings Hollywood to Chester | SaltWire". www.saltwire.com. Retrieved 2022-11-15.
31. "TIFF 2021: Sigourney Weaver got a warm Nova Scotia welcome filming 'The Good House' with Kevin Kline". ca.news.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2022-11-15.
32. Candles on Bay Street (TV Movie 2006) - IMDb, retrieved 2022-11-15
33. Christmas with Holly (TV Movie 2012) - IMDb, retrieved 2022-11-15
34. Dolores Claiborne (1995) - IMDb, retrieved 2022-11-15
35. Haven (TV Series 2010–2015) - IMDb, retrieved 2022-11-15
36. "Oak Island". Tourism Nova Scotia, Canada. Retrieved 2022-11-15.
37. The Healer (2016) - IMDb, retrieved 2022-11-15
38. Two If by Sea (1996) - IMDb, retrieved 2022-11-15
39. Cooke, Stephen. "New South Shore-set comedy-drama series Feudal begins production in Nova Scotia | SaltWire". www.saltwire.com. Retrieved 2022-11-16.

Coordinates: 44°39′N 64°18′W / 44.650°N 64.300°W / 44.650; -64.300