As you know, during the process of Windsor's Official Plan Review, the city is holding five public information sessions. This is all for the "Moving Forward" portion of the exercise.I sincerely appologise for the eleventh-hour notice for these. The College Avenue session is going on as I type this.
Official Plan Review - Moving Forward Phase Public Information Centres
College Avenue Community Centre - 3325 College - Tuesday January 29, 2008 4pm-8pm
Optomist Community Centre - 1075 Ypres - Wednesday January 30, 2008 4pm-8pm
Gino A. Marcus Community Complex - 1168 Drouillard - Thursday January 31, 2008 4pm-8pm
South Windsor Recreation Complex - 2555 Pulford - Tuesday Feburary 5, 2008 4pm-8pm
Forest Glade Community Centre - 3215 Forest Glade - Wednesday February 6, 2008 4pm-8pm
Here are the Moving Forward reports for you to prepare yourself with prior to attending the session closest to you
25-Year Population and Housing Projections (PDF, 504 KB)
20-Year Employment Projections and Employment Land Needs Analysis (PDF, 265 KB)
20-Year Employment Projections and Employment Land Needs Analysis (PDF, 265 KB)
It is imperative that every citizen attends these information sessions. They are the time for you to have input into building the city you want to live in. Put on your thinking caps, get out your wish list, and be sure to tell those running the seesions everything you want. Remember, they work for you.
5 comments:
Well, I attended the first public session for the OPR tonight. Me and the tumbleweeds. They were actually thinking of closing up shop when I got there at 6:30 (it is supposed to be open 'til 8:00) because nobody was showing up.
I do hope that the residents of our fair city wake up and realize just how important this exercise is. This is the time when we can collectively build our future.
Show up to one of these sessions, or at the very least dial 311 and register your opinions. They want details as well as macro thinking, so don't hold back.
Want to know why no one showed up? Because the last time they did the CIP in 2006 (or early 2007) a lot of people showed up to the point that they had some peole waiting in the hallway.
What did we get for our 2 hours and our input? Nothing. The city didn't do one damn recommendation from the people. Not one. In fact, they have done the exact opposite in some cases.
And this city wonders why the residents are so cynical.
While lack of belief in the procedure could have played a part in poor turnout, another reason was a mix up in the date being promoted for the event. From what I understand, the "open house" at College Avenue Community Centre was originally promoted to the public as being Thursday, January 31, when in reality it was on Tuesday, January 29.
Glad We're not the only ones who noticed that the last session was a ra ra farse. We worked as a neighbourhood committee for two weeks, put together a bullet sheet with all of our suggestions and we were told then and there that we could not use them. To this day I don't know why because many of the same recommendations were made. We got up and politely left the building. What a joke and what a waste of time. "Lack of belief in the procedure" is an understatement.
Best of Luck for Canadian Blog Awards!
Thanks MOM.
It is hearing stories like this that really piss me off - sorry for the language. When citizens and neighbourhoods get together to actively participate in the process of planning and designing our city and are basically told to go home - there is a BIG PROBLEM! Especially when the advice is coming from a group of active citizens like the residents of the Monmouth Road area who has beaten the odds and accomplished the sense of community that community activists only dream of. They have so much to teach us. As a matter of fact, I sense a case study of this neighbourhood and their process of community revitalization in scaledown's future.
If we're actually going to make a difference and change out city's outlook, we must find out where the disconnect lies in the halls of power. This is something we must do before we actually make any inroads in strengthening our communities.
During Matt Fisher's presentation on Wednesday, when they were questioned about how they were going to aid in making Windsor a place worth living in as a means to economic develpment, Hilary Paine, the facilitator, continually deflected the questions to the Official Plan Review process that is going on right now. They didn't equate a livable Windsor with it's economic potential. How can we put any faith in the OPR process when we hear stories like MOM's about how they were rebuffed when even trying to participate?
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