SWEDEN SWAMP – ZONING – THE SEVEN MILE
BY DON DOUCETTE
Let us never forget the near environmental travesty some years ago with the proposed destruction of Sweden Swamp and its “promised” replication as “another wetland elsewhere.”
Thank our lucky stars we never saw the final result of that end product. And even more thankful for the people who saw the vision and waged the battle to save Sweden Swamp.
We would have lost a future water supply potential and a wildlife habitat, not to mention an ancient cultural focal point.
And even more distressing to consider – as shopping malls struggle to survive, what might we have been presently dealing with here in Attleboro if the proposed Sweden Swamp shopping mall complex was presently waning i.e. Emerald Square next door, or Swansea, or Warwick or Lincoln as a few examples?
The frágil Seven Mile River corridor is leaned upon heavily by the taxpayers of Attleboro – it is the primary resource for our precious drinking water supply and of additional importance, a vital space for the infrastructure which purifies and delivers our precious drinking water inventory. And now…additional proposed development in South Attleboro along the Seven Mile River becomes even more critical to consider.
A few more feet of protected wetland buffer is not too much to ask when we consider the thin clear line of our pure water needs balanced with development pressures when considering our future water supply requirements.
Don Doucette
“Ten Mile River Rambles”