Niverville Town Council has approved a new subdivision on the northwest corner of the community.

Mayor Myron Dyck says they held a public hearing this week for the first phase of the development and the addition of a number of roads.

"The point was to approve the subdivision which involved the opening of some roads that are yet to be built and that is the nuts and bolts of it. Council did approve that today. 101 of the lots were approved and then there was the extension of a road known as Ritchot, that was also approved to be opened."

Quite a few residents attended the public hearingDyck says the Province of Manitoba has agreed to approve the new development with the condition that the intersections of PR 311 and Ritchot Drive and PR 311 and Church Avenue be closed to reduce the number of access points on the highway for safety reasons.

Town council will hold a separate public hearing for the road closures in the future but Dyck says considering they could only approve the new roads if they agreed to close those two intersections, they decided to invite anyone with concerns to the public hearing regarding the new development. He adds a number of residents attended with questions about the road closures.

"People had concerns about different vehicles being able to turn around as it relates to our public works department, things like garbage collection, things like snow removal and then things like school bus pick-up. They want to make sure that if something is closed it is not going to be a dead end. Is there going to be a bulb or some means of these vehicles being able to turn around so they are not having to turn around on peoples private property?"

Dyck says council shares these concerns. He notes they decided to approve the new subdivision with the condition that they are able to sign off on how the PR 311 intersections are closed.