From June 8-11, the Peace River Regional District (PRRD) will be hosting events around the region—in Dawson Creek, Fort St. John, Taylor, Chetwynd, Hudson’s Hope, Pouce Coupe and Tumbler Ridge, to hear from members of the public, community organizations and other stakeholders, about their new Regional Growth Strategy (RGS).
This is phase two of the project. “As we transition into the second phase of our Regional Growth Strategy project, we’re eager to deepen our collaboration with all stakeholders,” says Brad Sperling, Chair of the PRRD. “This project is a collective endeavor to shape the Peace region’s future. We’re amplifying our public consultation efforts. We’ve been listening to our community and look forward to hearing more. Public participation is key in this journey. Together, we can turn our shared vision into reality, identify guiding opportunities and create a prosperous future for our region.”
An RGS is “a long-range, high-level plan that will help us better guide long-term regional growth and support more coordinated region-wide planning with the PRRD and member municipalities,” says the PRRD website. “Enabled by provincial legislation, an RGS is prepared and enacted by a regional district with the involvement of its member municipalities. They can cover a wide range of interconnected policy topics but must meet basic provincial requirements, which include: a 20-year time frame, a regional vision statement, population and employment projections, and regional actions or policies for key areas such as housing, transportation, regional district services, parks and natural areas and economic development.
The provincial government is encouraging (and bankrolling) regional districts throughout the province to create their own RGS, but leaves the process of implementing the strategy largely up to each region. “Ours will be made in the PRRD and include policy guidance for the things residents and others tell us are important. We are inviting community members throughout the region to stop by at any of the events to hear an update on the project progress and to share feedback about the development of the RGS.”
One of the things the RGS will not do is regulate land use. “Land use and development are regulated by Official Community Plans, Zoning Bylaws and building permit requirements where they exist in our region.”
The project has been underway since last summer, and is expected to be completed by May or next year. “The project is entirely funded through provincial grants and the PRRD gratefully acknowledges the support of the Province of British Columbia through the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) Canada Community Building Fund.
For more information, visit haveyoursay.prrd.bc.ca/regional-growth-strategy.
Trent is the publisher of Tumbler RidgeLines.