What it's like to live in Hornepayne

I remember a popular saying when I was young, "What happens behind closed doors stays behind closed doors." I think we all grew up with this deeply rooted into our being. Yesterday the "Let's Rebuild Hornepayne" Facebook Group was changed to a closed group. The reason behind it is not being disclosed but my hunch is that the admin wants to keep what is happening in our town behind closed doors.

Here's a peak of what it's like to live in Hornepayne.

A new subdivision was built in the 1970s. Our "Mall", which was boarded up 2 years ago was built in the late 70s and opened in 1980. For 30 years people went about their business. Our population decreased by almost half from then to now. A few years ago, being forced by the Government, we built a new water treatment plant which has turned out to be a money pit. We used to pay $400.00 a year for water and we now pay $1200.00 a year. The closure of our "Mall" left a huge tax deficit and it left the town without many services. In 2010 after the new Council was elected they passed a resolution to stop all donations from the Township because their money problems were that desperate. It's so bad that they can't afford to pay for an interact machine for the office. Many have asked about applying for grants so we can rebuild our community, but again we're told that we need money to apply and we don't have any.

In comes NWMO.

Hornepayne was one of the first communities to enter into the Nuclear Waste process. We are currently in a learning process so we can learn all about this before we make a decision. The NWMO has set up a Committee that was supposed to release information so we could be educated, but as it was seen in yesterday's post, they don't have much freedom in what they can share.We have been told repeatedly that we will have the option to choose if we want this or not. So far we don't have any other choice and I don't see that changing any time soon. Those who are for Nuclear Waste can't see that we will have a future without it and those who are against it can't see that we will have a future with it.

It's been 2 years of yearning to rebuild our town but we can't seem to move forward. People continue to move and just this week another business has closed. After 5 or 10 years of this I'm sure we'll all be ready to sell out to Nuclear Waste. They say we'll have a choice.

A Message to Hornepayne

To move forward we have to let NWMO go. As long as they are here we will NEVER move forward. It's 10 or 15 years away and we're going to be kept in this state so we finally choose Nuclear Waste. It's just like being lost at sea; you know drinking the salt water isn't good but when you're thirsty who can resist? Well, after 10 years of this kind of Hornepayne living will you be able to resist? Rebuilding is going to take A LOT of work. Jody and I have been trying to build a business and the amount of hours has been crazy, so I know it's a lot of work. We're not going to find the desire to do this hard work within our community if a much easier option is perceived to be in our future. Our vision is being blocked by Nuclear Waste. It's a hindrance to our progress. It's deceptive in the fact that all their promises make you think we're getting somewhere, but we're not.