Campbell River Community Plan: Partners in Community

The City of Campbell River, in partnership with the Wei Wai Kum, We Wai Kai, and Homalco First Nations, will develop a Sustainable Official Community Plan (SOCP). To meet challenges such as loss of forest-based industries, homelessness, greenhouse gases (GHGs) resulting from low-density sprawl and downtown decline, the community, located on the east coast of Vancouver Island, will use a systems approach to examine current sustainability practices and future opportunities, and articulate a practical vision and targets for sustainability. The comprehensive plan will include strategies and targets for economic and social development, waste management and reduction, GHG reduction and energy, cultural revitalization, affordable housing, brownfield redevelopment, water management, transportation, urban design and land development policy. It will guide future municipal operations system-wide and apply a sustainability assessment to all future development proposals. Existing stand-alone plans and policies related to sustainability will also be reviewed and amended to complement the SOCP. The plan will be developed through an extensive consultative process with First Nations, youth, the general public, community agencies and various levels of government. Working with the First Nations in a mutual learning environment will lay the foundation for the plan, acknowledge and address First Nations’ goals and values, identify partnerships, and enable First Nations’ plans to recognize and support the SOCP where appropriate. A planning steering committee will also be established, and the plan itself will feed into the development of a municipal sustainability task force. Consultations will include community visioning, issues identification, planning objectives and goal setting, design charettes, and the review of options and draft plans. Targets, actions, and monitoring and implementation plans will also be incorporated; complete with funding, resource allocation, phasing, and scheduling and indicator identification where appropriate. This project will serve as an example of how municipalities can work with their First Nations neighbours. The plan will help the city to meet their carbon neutral target by 2012.

(Project description from original funding application)