Monctonians concerned over garbage, tents appearing at former Moncton High School

There are growing concerns among Moncton residents about the state of the property at the former Moncton High School.

Christopher Hicks owns a number of rental properties in front of the old school and said what he’s seen pop up at the back of the property in the past few weeks he says is disturbing.

“The first week I saw tents and then the next two weeks after that it is just tents and garbage,” he said.

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People are living in tents along the fenced-in area of the former school. Hicks says he feels bad for the people living without a home.

“If it was clean and nice who cares, but it is never gonna be that way,” said Hicks.

Piles of unsightly garbage and debris are littered across the property and Hicks says he can’t get the city to step in and clean it up.

Isabelle LeBlanc, a spokesperson for the city of Moncton, says the site of the former school is not city-owned property.

Since the people tenting on the site are not breaking any bylaws, it is up to the property owner to step in.

“It was deemed that the tents are on private property and so you should contact the owner for further information,” LeBlanc said.

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The province owns the property and Tanya Greer, communication director for the Department of Transporation and Infrastructure, said they have been made aware of residents concerns.

“(The department) is monitoring the situation,” she said.

Hicks says that answer is not good enough.

“I would say they dropped the ball.  It is way past public safety, it is disgusting,” Hicks said.

The province says the sale of the former high school’s property is expected to be finalized on Dec. 15. Hicks says people living in the area should not have to wait that long to see the site cleaned up

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“It is abandoned. No one seems to care,” he said.

Codiac RCMP say a complaint about the situation has not been filed by the province.