Selwyn Township held a special council meeting on Tuesday April 23 to discuss their new strategic plan.
During the meeting, which was led by a representative from Monteith Brown Planning Consultants, both staff and council discussed overarching themes to help guide the township, as a corporation, through their operations over the next several years.
The current strategic plan that the township uses was completed in 2018. They are now undergoing the process of updating the plan to align with their current needs and goals for the township.
During the special meeting some key strengths within the township that staff and council agreed on were:
• Geography: close to urban centers, beautiful rivers and lakes, trail system
• Large tax base to be able to provide services for
• Strong communities
• Great volunteers
• A mix of urban and rural residents
• Library system
• Opportunity for growth
Some challenges with the township they felt included:
• Infrastructure around their geography (one road/bridge in and out of certain areas)
• Constantly changing provincial legislation
• Funding for key programs such as the Link transportation project
• Lack of employment lands
• Water and sewer constraints with Lakefield South and other developments on the way
• The loss of Peterborough and the Kawarthas Economic Development later this year
• They are in competition with other communities to bring in tourism
Some opportunities to help mitigate those challenges included engaging new and current volunteers, working with township partners such as the city and other municipalities, and increasing communication with residents.
Each department head then had an opportunity to explain specific issues they are currently facing and offered suggestions on how to improve them. From these comments, Monteith Brown Planning Consultants will analyze and incorporate suggestions into the strategic plan to help improve township operations.
As part of the strategic plan, the township will also be updating their vision and mission statements.
However, nothing will be done without community engagement and public consultation.
Over the next several months, the township will be hosting an open house for public input in addition to putting out an online survey with hard copies available at the township office.
The consultants will then compile all the information from staff, council, and the public to bring back a summary and a draft plan for council in the fall.
They will then host another open house and more consultation based on the draft summary.
Then, near the end of the year, a final strategic plan will be presented.
