Area F Issues Report at the end of March

By Jo Anne Malpass

A report on the results of the Electoral Area F Issues Identification Study, which will include documentation of current governance, services and costs and recommendations for possible changes that can be made, will be ready by the end of March.

Public engagement on the Study has been completed. There were two in-person open houses in January, an on-line presentation Feb. 21, a mail-out and an online survey that closed on February 29.

The Columbia Shuswap Regional District, with funding from the Ministry of Municipal Affairs, launched the Electoral Area F Issues Identification Study to determine what changes, if any, may be required to ensure that local services and/or local governance meet the needs of people in the North Shuswap.

Allan Neilson, Consultant and Principal of Neilson Strategies Inc. said there have been quite a few surveys completed. He will add the questions and comments from the meetings and surveys to his final report which will go to the CSRD and the Ministry of Municipal Affairs at the end of March. The report, based on concerns raised by the public, will identify possible changes that can be made within the regional district system.

At the February online meeting, concerns included public input into land use, discrepancies between the official community plan and zoning bylaws, expensive and lengthy permit process, recycling, the alternative approval process used instead of referendums, studies that sit on the shelf, and paying for things outside our area with no economic benefit to the North Shuswap.

Neilson explained some of the options available through a planning advisory committee and the area director are to call for a strategic review of a certain service. This formal process must lead to a resolution and must be shared with the Ministry. There is also a process for an area to withdraw from a service. Both methods are onerous and only used when less formal ways to affect change have failed.

Once completed, a copy of the document will be available online to the public, through the CSRD website.

You can view the online presentation, and learn more about this study and other CSRD projects at https://csrd.civilspace.io/en