Sustainable Community Plan
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Executive Summary
Overview
This is the Town of Collingwood’s Sustainable Community Plan (SCP). The Plan provides a framework for sustainable decision making that builds upon the solid foundation of work already underway at the Town. The Plan takes into account the ongoing activities, policies and procedures at the Town; these include: the sustainability principles that Council endorsed at the outset of its term, previous community exercises such as Vision 2020, and dozens of initiatives and programs highlighted in the SCP.
Rationale
Over the next forty years, the Town of Collingwood is expected to experience local forces of change such as unprecedented population growth and changing demographic and global forces of change such as rising commodity prices and climate change. Therefore, the Town’s Sustainability Committee began a process, in 2005, to develop a Sustainable Community Plan (SCP), to address some of these challenges and capitalize on potential opportunities (including reducing greenhouse gas emissions and cleaning-up and developing brownfield sites). The SCP was developed in concert with staff, Council and the community.
Process
The process has included input from residents, Council and staff through a series of visioning and action planning workshops including the use of a visual software tool for public engagement called NottawasagaQuest. The process also involved surrounding municipalities, with a recognition that the actions of Collingwood and its residents are not taken in isolation. Our actions affect surrounding communities and have further reaching global impacts. Therefore, the SCP highlights the importance of partnerships and local action. The process and specific outputs are further defined in Appendices A, B, C and D.
Municipal Alignment
The SCP is a plan that provides a framework for sustainable decision making. It is directly linked to Council’s forthcoming Strategic Plan. The Strategic Plan will be the Town’s implementation document with a series of specific actions for Departments to achieve with specified timelines. Therefore, the SCP provides the philosophy and framework of sustainability for the Strategic Plan and all other Town plans. The SCP also provides some suggestions for action and areas for alignment with the Strategic Plan (Section 2.3).
Sustainability
Sustainability is the utilization of our municipality and other resources to meet community needs and aspirations, and best optimize the unique nature of the community, without compromising the well being of future generations. Sustainability is a philosophy that involves long term thinking and balanced decision making. For many years, staff and Council have made decisions with outcomes that have contributed to the Town being a more sustainable community. With the establishment of the SCP, this four-pillar philosophy of balanced environmental, economic, social and cultural considerations now officially permeates every decision made in the community.
Components of the Plan
At the centre of the SCP is a comprehensive sustainability framework (Sections 2 and 3), including: a commitment to sustainability; the characteristics of a sustainable community now, and in the future; key considerations for sustainable decision-making; and a series of proposed goals, actions and considerations for implementation.
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Sustainable Community Plan
Or click on each section individually: Table of Contents
1.1 What is Sustainability?
1.2 What is the Sustainable
Community Plan?
1.3 Collingwood and the
Nottawasaga Region
1.4 Why Develop a Sustainable
Community Plan?
1.5 Process to Develop the
Sustainable Community Plan
2.1 Our Commitment to a
Sustainable Community
2.2 Characteristics of a
Sustainable Collingwood
2.3 Sustainable Decision-Making
2.4 Our Proposed Goals and
Actions
Goal: Protecting Our Land and
Natural Environment
Goal: Protecting Our Land and
Natural Environment
Goal: Improving How We Get Around
Goal: Minimizing Resource Use
Goal: Strengthening Our Economy
Goal: Enhancing our Arts, Cultural,
Heritage and Recreation
Opportunities
Goal: Reinforcing the Importance of
our Community’s Social
Framework
3.1 Integrating the Sustainability
Framework into the Day-to-
Day Functioning of the
Municipality
3.2 Continuing the Sustainability
Committee
3.3 Building Partnerships
Appendix A: White Pages
Appendix B: Council’s Sustainability
Principles
Appendix C: Process to Develop the
Sustainable Community
Plan (SCP)
Appendix D: List of Interviewees
Appendix E: NottawasagaQuest
Workshop Results
Appendix F: Summary of Action Planning
Workshops
Appendix G: Copies of Communications
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