Development of the Léry Sustainable Neighbourhood Action Plan

The Town of Léry, a small municipality of 2,307 inhabitants, wants to adopt a long-term development plan and vision that will adequately protect its natural heritage. Located 25 minutes by car from downtown Montreal, the town is bordered by Lake Saint-Louis and the Îles de la Paix wildlife reserve and encompasses an extensive urban forest. The municipality expects significant population growth because of the recent opening of Autoroute 30. In fact, the outlying Châteauguay-Léry forest is being subjected to increasing pressure from promoters. A Sustainable Neighbourhood Action Plan would enable the Town to lay the foundations for strategic sustainable development of its land and to modify and enhance its Urban Plan and related bylaws. The Town will use a number of theoretical guides and tools to develop the Léry Sustainable Neighbourhood Action Plan. Amongst other tools, Léry will use the Natural Step formula, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), local Agenda 21 plans, and the provincial Government Sustainable Development Strategy 2008-2013. A particular focus will be to develop partnerships between the Town and the stakeholders concerned by these development issues. The Léry Sustainable Neighbourhood Action Plan will deal with management of water, energy, waste, sustainable transportation, natural environments, brownfield remediation, land use and development. The process will include a number of steps, such as creation of a steering committee, development of a triple-bottom-line sustainability approach for Léry, assessment of the municipality’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, and consultation of citizens in a public forum. The results of these steps will inform the subsequent process of developing the sustainability vision and creating the Sustainable Neighbourhood Action Plan. The objectives, strategic actions and orientations will then be decided, with a schedule, targets and indicators. The documents produced will be aligned with the Town’s existing documents, as well as with the Roussillon RCM’s new land use and development plan and the Montreal Urban Community’s metropolitan land use and development plan (Plan métropolitain d’aménagement et de développement, PMAD). Léry is proving its interest for innovation by creating a framework for concordant development of the town and natural environment in addition to promoting sustainable forestry and agriculture. The integrated process used to develop the Léry Sustainable Neighbourhood Action Plan will help the Town structure its sustainable development and will very likely inspire other small municipalities. (Project description from original funding application)