Upper Sackville woman blocking part of the Trans-Canada Trail - Action News
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New Brunswick

Upper Sackville woman blocking part of the Trans-Canada Trail

A woman in Upper Sackville is blocking the Trans-Canada Trail because she believes the Department of Natural Resources and New Brunswick Trails are not keeping their end of a deal.

Department of Natural Resources says it owns the land and it's a violation to block the trail

Mary Fawcett says she doesn't have the time to keep up the fencing, so she has closed the trail. (CBC News)

A woman in Upper Sackville is blocking the Trans-Canada Trail because she believes the Department of Natural Resources and New Brunswick Trails are not keeping their end of a deal.

Mary Fawcettsays the trail is ruining her fencesand flooding her land.

Fawcettsaid she has had enough.

"I'm asking them to do the job, to do what was expected, to do what is in my agreement," she says.

"To do the fencing, would help them out and help us out is to lower the rail bed, which is what they were asked to do over 15 years ago," saysFawcett.

Fawcett says the trail that intersects her pasture is so high, it acts as a snow fence. Each winter, snow drifts wreck her fencesand the trail ruins her drainage.
Fawcett says the trail that intersects her pasture is so high, it acts as a snow fence. Each winter, snow drifts wreck her fences, and the trail ruins her drainage. (CBC News)

"The fence is basically on the ground. It's usually four strands of barbwireand the ditch is basically gravel. There is no ditch there," said Fawcett.

"You can't pass that even with a tractor."

In an email, the Department of Natural Resources says it owns the landand it's a violation to block it.

But Fawcett says the land is part of the farm, which has been in the Fawcett family for more than 200years.

She and her son tend the livestock andboth have full-time jobs.

She says they don't have the time to keep up the fencing, just to keep the animals off the trail. So they let them roam, and tell people to stay away.

But cyclists, such asLisa Peters, would prefer to be on the trail.

She said she is on the trailthree times a week and would like to see the trail reopened.

"It's a little inconvenient because you have to go out and around the trails, so you can't really flow through like I normally do," said Peters.

It's about a kilometre between thefence and the other side of the barricade.

People wanting to use the trail musttake a detour. They have to come off the trailand take a dirt road and head for the paved road.

It's a detour Fawcett says people are going to have to get used to until she gets some help fixing the trail.