About 80 people attended an open house about the City of Powell River’s official community plan (OCP), which is being reviewed with a focus on sustainability.
The consulting team contracted by the city to develop the new OCP includes The Arlington Group, EcoPlan International Inc., Sustainability Solutions Group and Morrison Hershfield Ltd.
During the open house, which was held on Thursday, January 31, display boards provided information and participants were encouraged to fill out a survey and provide input on the OCP. Graham Farstad, from The Arlington Group, provided an overview of what an OCP is and information about the community. Then a panel representing some community organizations discussed the challenges facing Powell River, what their vision of Powell River’s future is and how the new OCP can help their organizations achieve that vision.
The panel consisted of: Scott Randolph, Powell River Regional Economic Development Society (PRREDS) manager; Ann Nelson, Powell River Council for Arts, Culture and Heritage; Kevin Wilson, Transition Town Powell River; Dr. Chris Morwood, Powell River Cycling Association; and Steve Gallagher, Tla’amin (Sliammon) First Nation intergovernmental relations.
Randolph said the major challenge facing the community is BC Ferries. “The number one priority in this community in regards to its future development is having affordable, reliable transportation connections,” he said. “If we don’t do something about that ferry system, we’re going to go the way of the dodo eventually.”
Randolph also said PRREDS hopes that the OCP process helps to identify what types of development residents would like to see in their neighbourhoods. In regard to vision, Randolph said PRREDS would like to see a number of smaller or medium-sized companies in the community. “It’s much easier for a community to be sustainable going forwards if it has 10 good businesses or medium-sized industries that employ anywhere from 40 to 60 people. When you lose one, it doesn’t hurt you so much.”
While Powell River’s isolation has “kept us strong and safe in a lot of ways,” said Nelson, it has also created many challenges. While there is effort going toward making a strong, economically sustainable community, the challenge is to ensure “there is room made, there is consciousness given to the contribution that arts, culture and heritage makes to our daily life and to the tapestry that is our community,” she said.
For Wilson, the challenge is to break out of assumptions and to “widen our vision to what we may have to deal with in terms of our lives in the future.”
The decisions being made through this process will last a long time, he said. “We should be thinking about what will happen when the assumptions that we have now change, because things will change.”
Gallagher provided an overview of Tla’amin’s relationship with the city and how that builds a foundation for a post-treaty world. “There’s going to be another government in town,” he said. “We look forward to the positive change that’s going to happen over the next while. It’s going to affect everybody.”
Morwood talked about the benefits of providing bike lanes and routes in the city, including health benefits and the reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. He pointed out that 59 per cent of the city’s GHG emissions come from residential vehicles. “The idea is to make better connections in town so that people can get from home to their work, to their schools, to local businesses and to recreation,” he said. “We know that in other communities where that infrastructure is there, people use it.”
During the question period that followed, participants discussed ferries, different incentives for attracting new residents, the need for a cultural hub in the city, and a section in the city’s incorporation act.
More information about the OCP process is available on the website.
The next step in the process involves meetings in neighbourhoods.
