New association for North Shore

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One meeting has been held and already the ideas are percolating among members of a new community association on the North Shore.

“I don’t think there’s going to be any shortage of ideas, judging by that first meeting,” said Cameron MacQuarrie, president of the North Shore Central Community Association (NSCCA).

The group launched in late April with a community garbage pickup and barbecue and held its first official meeting on May 1, attracting 20 people.

Discussion at the first get-together included “problem properties, problems with people walking their dogs and not picking up poop, grow operations that get abandoned, land that is just being sat on without anybody residing in it,” said MacQuarrie.

But, he added, the meeting also looked at positive possibilities for the neighbourhood.

“There was also a lot of dreaming about what we could use the green spaces for and discussing what we could do to have everybody know each other so everybody feels responsible for and about the neighbourhood,” he said.

MacQuarrie wants the organization, which is for North Shore residents living between Fortune Drive and Tranquille Road, to be a place for neighbours to connect and share information.

Increasing membership will be one of the NSCCA’s first tasks, though MacQuarrie said he was pleased and surprised by the number of people who have already expressed an interest.

Also in the works is a website for the group, which will likely launch later this month.

MacQuarrie said the group isn’t tackling a specific project yet and is keeping the meetings light for the first few months.

“We’re just battling apathy, like everybody is,” he said.

“We’ll try and keep it fun until we try to do something more serious.”

He encouraged anyone interested in becoming involved to come out to one of the association’s meetings, which run on the first Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. at Mt. Paul United Church.

“Everybody has a stake in the neighbourhood, no matter whether they’re renting or buying or in a condo or homeless,” MacQaurrie said.  “Everybody has a stake in this and, the better we treat it, the more we watch out for it and the more we participate in it, the better our relationships will be with each other and the better the neighbourhood will be.”