It seems as though JD Irving Ltd isn’t a fan of amalgamation.

Four massive parcels of land that belong to the forestry giant have quietly been removed from the future Entity 40, the municipality which is being created by the Province of New Brunswick through the dissolution of the town of Sackville and village of Dorchester, and amalgamation of them with surrounding local service districts.

The change was made during the process for mapping out the municipal election wards of the new Entity 40, and first noticed by Sackville resident Sharon Hicks, who alerted town councillors and media.

The revised boundary still sees Entity 40 stretch northward through Midgic up to border with Beaubassin East, but now large tracts of land have been portioned off the outer boundary to the east and west. The new border line matches the shape of the JD Irving Ltd. property lines in many spots, making it highly likely that the changes were made with the properties in mind.

In response to a CHMA enquiry on the reason for the boundary change, provincial spokesperson Alysha Elliot responded with an emailed statement saying the areas would become part of one of 12 rural districts set up by the province which take up the lion’s share of the province’s area. Elliot said no population was impacted in the change, and “the final revisions have now been made.”

Sackville town councillors discussed the boundary change in their meeting Monday night, some calling the move "absurd" and "outrageous."  Mayor Shawn Mesheau says the advisory committee to provincial consultant Chad Peters, who is overseeing the Entity 40 amalgamation, has requested that the land be added back to the municipality.