August 23, 2023, photo credit: Robyn Brady/CKXS News.
Provincial funding to support community redevelopment in Wheatley is providing relief in more way than one.
On Wednesday, $11-million was announced to support ongoing recovery following the 2021 explosion, $225,000 of which is to help Chatham-Kent fund a committee of residents and businesses tasked with supporting community redevelopment.
West Kent Councillor Lauren Anderson, who volunteered in the aftermath of the explosion before being elected to council, says it’s proof the government understands the nature of the community and the needs of its residents.
“Not only that they’re taking us seriously, but they recognize the tight-knit community that we have and the amount of people that want to be involved and want to provide for their community and want to be part of the decision making,” Anderson says. “We need these local people and we need a local task force so the people who actually live in this community (can) start to rectify and really start to rebuild the future of our town based on what our needs and wants are.”
Anderson says with Chatham-Kent council backing, the task force will have municipal tools at its disposal, such as an urban planner if needed, or council advice as the community works to rebuild.
She says it’s hard to move past the trauma of the 2021 explosion with so many physical and emotional reminders of the blast and its impact on the community.
“Recognizing that this is still a very sensitive and emotional time for everybody that lives in Wheatley, specifically those that have been directly impacted, but for everybody in our town, and recognizing that no amount of money, obviously, fixes the trauma that we’ve been through. But what it does do is provides an opportunity for us to start to rebuild and get other options and see what we want to do.”
Anderson says like the phoenix, Wheatley can rise from the ashes with the right support systems in place.