Sidney Mayor Cliff McNeil-Smith is encouraging residents, businesses and organizations to fill out a special edition of the municipality’s newsletter focused on the ongoing Official Community Plan (OCP) review.
“The success of our OCP really rests on the level of engagement that we have from the community,” he said. “We have had to be a little unique during the pandemic in terms of our engagement. We have had success to date with some of the previous engagement and we really look forward to everyone’s input with this OCP workbook.”
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The workbook (which is available in analog form through the municipality’s newsletter Town Talk or online) asks for input on six categories (parks and recreation, housing and affordability, climate action, transportation, culture and institutions, and assets and infrastructure). Findings from the workbook will inform the development of concepts and policies for the updated OCP.
The municipality accepts submissions from individuals or groups of four individuals or more. The first 50 hosts who submit completed workbooks for groups of four or more will receive a $40 gift certificate to Mariner Pizza, Woodshed Pizza or another Sidney restaurant.
The workbook asks several open-ended and multiple-choice questions about the six topics, with participants asked to review a background and recommendations report available at www.sidney.ca/ocp.
Deadline for submissions is June 15.
Official Community Plans set out broad objectives and policies that guide decisions on planning, land use and provision of municipal services in the community.
Sidney adopted its current OCP in 2007 and the municipality currently finds itself at the start of the review’s third phase, its drafting expected to run until November 2021.
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wolfgang.depner@peninsulanewsreview.com
