St. John’s councillors reluctantly rejected a housing development for the Kilbride area during its Committee of the Whole meeting yesterday.

The application called for exactly what the city is looking for—affordable units—17 in total—as part of a townhouse development that would also extend Kilbride Avenue with a new connection to Old Petty Harbour Road.

Problem is, that area isn’t serviced and doesn’t have water and sewer because it is above the roughly 130-metre contour, and has yet to be developed.

That triggered criticism of the provincial government by Councillor Ron Ellsworth.

He says the provincial government is being disingenuous by approving projects which cannot be approved by the municipality. He says you can only develop what you can develop with the infrastructure you have.