At last week’s meeting, Council had the opportunity to review and adopt the Municipality of North Grenville’s 10-year Community Strategic Plan.
“We are delighted that nearly 2,000 residents took the time to respond to our community survey this past August and September, and grateful for all of the conversations that our Municipal team led with stakeholders, advisory groups, and individuals, as well as feedback from several community associations,” said Mayor Nancy Peckford.
This Community Strategic Plan was developed to reflect – to the best of our ability- the shared insights of survey respondents, staff, management, Advisory Committees, community groups, and Council.
“There is no doubt that one of the key challenges that North Grenville currently faces, and has for nearly two decades, is how to balance a strong rate of growth with the preservation of a high quality of life that many of us have come to enjoy. Maintaining the rural character of our community, while protecting natural assets, needs to be a significant priority,” emphasized Mayor Peckford.
The plan aims to advance the following community vision statement: “North Grenville is a caring, vibrant and cohesive community, where growth is sustainably managed to enhance the quality of urban and rural life for all”.
In order to improve how the Municipality manages growth, new planning and oversight tools are required.
“We are thrilled that we can get to work right away on this plan, thanks to over $400,000 in modernization funds from Steve Clark, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing,” added Deputy Mayor Jim McManaman. “These dollars will be immediately used to update records management and IT systems, as well as asset management tools.
The plan is based on a foundation of five pillars:
Balanced & Environmentally Sustainable Growth
A Strong Connected, and Vibrant Community
Diverse and Resilient Economic Development
Efficient Governance and Service Delivery
A Caring Community
With this in mind, preserving natural assets and the environment, supporting economic development opportunities, improving Municipal operations and efficiencies, building on previous efforts to ensure an inclusive community, are key priorities.
“Our municipal team is fully committed to working together with members of the community and stakeholders to achieve the goals set out in the Strategic Plan. We are equally committed to publicly reporting on, and evaluating, our progress as we move forward,” added Chief Administrative Officer Gary Dyke.
Under Mr. Dyke’s leadership, the Municipality was recently certified as an ISO 37120 community, the third smallest municipality in the world to receive this platinum designation. This means the Municipality will bring a systematic approach to regularly benchmarking municipal services, quality of life, and sustainability efforts. Further, the Municipality’s progress in advancing these goals will be reliably and consistently measured and shared with the community.
The World Council on City Data (WCCD) was founded in 2014 and exists to help communities of all sizes – in Canada and across the globe – to embrace standardized, independently verified, and globally comparable city data to become more sustainable, resilient, prosperous, inclusive, and smart.
To review the plan and see future updates, visit www.northgrenville.ca/vision. North Grenville’s last strategic plan was completed in 2013. In the Fall of 2018, residents elected a new Council which committed to completing a new strategic plan in 2020. In the interim, Council created a Work Plan in 2019.