Communities in the Fraser and Nicola are trying to work regionally as the build out begins of the Ashcroft Terminal.

Ashcroft mayor Barbara Roden says mayors and councillors from seven communities met with Ashcroft Terminal staff on Monday night, in a meeting organized by Fraser-Nicola MLA Jackie Tegart.

Those communities included Ashcroft, Lillooet, Cache Creek, Clinton, Logan Lake, Merritt and Lytton.

“It was everyone hearing the same thing at the same time. And I think, really to get the message across, that the Ashcroft Terminal is going to be a big thing, and a very important thing not just for Ashcroft and Cache Creek but for the entire region.”

The $28-million-dollar terminal is expected to bring about 250 jobs to the area over the next three years.

Roden says an item top of mind is addressing housing needs.

“So when it comes to employees at the Ashcroft Terminal and housing for them, this isn’t just an Ashcroft thing… it’s for all these communities to start thinking about housing needs for people who are going to be coming to this region,” she says.

“And as we’ve seen with things like the Highland Valley Copper Mine, the Chasm Mill, people driving to-and-from Kamloops to Ashcroft and Cache Creek, people in this region are used to having to travel, for an hour, hour and 20 minutes to each way to get to work, and people have shown here that they’re willing to do that.”