Consulting Team Chosen to lead Land Use Planning Policy Study

The Town of Collingwood is pleased to announce that Meridian Planning Consultants (MCP) led by Nick McDonald with GM Blue Plan (GMBP), led by Chris Hamel have been chosen to conduct the Land Use Planning Policy Study for the Town of Collingwood. Further, Glenn Pothier from GLPi will team up with the consulting firms to facilitate two public engagement meetings related specifically to the Land Use Planning Policy Study.

At the Council meeting held Monday, April 26, Collingwood Town Council approved a pause in development to address drinking water capacity for future development, using an Interim Control Bylaw (ICBL) that could last up to a year while a Land Use Policy Study is completed. 

The water supply is safe and available for current residents, industry, commercial uses, and temporary visitors. There is enough water for several years of growth, but not enough to continue at the same pace of development until the water treatment plant is expanded in 2025. As soon as becoming aware of this difficult situation, Council took a proactive and transparent approach to seek further capacity and responsibly manage that which remains.
The Town is absolutely committed to rapidly developing a Land Use Planning Policy Study and implementing the outcomes as quickly as possible to limit impacts on development that represents a priority interest for the community. 

Land-Use Planning Policy Study will include background research, further analysis of issues and challenges, public consultation, options analysis, and recommendations. The study focus will include any required changes to the Town’s land use planning policies and/or regulatory framework resulting from water and wastewater servicing capacity limitations. Further, it will cover the Town’s role in the Provincial growth planning framework including (but not limited to): the implications of water and wastewater servicing constraints for growth management within the Town, servicing and implementing policies both within the Official Plan and as they relate to the Town’s land-use planning policies and reinforcing a regulatory framework and delivering upon the Town’s Community-based Strategic Plan.

About the Consulting Team
MPC was formed in 2001, is based in Vaughan and has primarily focused on providing advice to public sector clients across Ontario.  The firm is owned and managed by Nick McDonald who has over 30 years of experience providing advice to numerous municipalities and landowners throughout Ontario. Mr. McDonald is also a Registered Professional Planner.

GMBP is a municipal engineering, management, and technology consulting firm with over 50 years of experience.    GMBP uniquely provides focused infrastructure planning and asset management services in addition to core water, wastewater, stormwater, transportation and land development engineering services. GMBP has been providing strategic advisory, policy and standards work, infrastructure master planning and financial impact analysis for clients across Canada and specifically in Ontario and the Greater Toronto and Golden Horseshoe Area. Chris Hamel, President, will provide the primary services for this assignment. He brings significant infrastructure planning and policy experience.  

Glenn Pothier, GLPi’s founder and president, is an acknowledged leader as a strategic planner, consultation design specialist, facilitator, and researcher. He is a member of both the Marketing Research and Intelligence association, and its Qualitative Research Division.  He is also an accredited member of the Canadian Public Relations Society (and a past president of that organization). For   over   two   decades, Glenn   has   specialized in   the   development   and   execution   of communication, outreach    and    consultation    strategies    involving multifaceted, often controversial issues including work on some of the country’s largest land use, public works, transportation, and environmental assessment projects.

Regular updates on the Land Use Planning Policy Study including timeline and public engagement opportunities will be presented at Standing Committees and Council weekly. Agendas and links to view the meetings are available at: https://collingwood.civicweb.net/Portal/

For more information, and to track the progress of planning activity associated with the ICBL, please visit:  https://engage.collingwood.ca/. We continue to encourage members of the public to use the Questions Tool on this page to submit questions on the Engage.Collingwood page.

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For further information:

Christa Carter
Manager, Public Relations & Communications
Town of Collingwood
705-445-1030 Ext. 3274
ccarter@collingwood.ca
    
Ron Glenn
Interim Director, Planning Services
Town of Collingwood
705-445-1290 Ext. 3284
rglenn@collingwood.ca