ERIN – Residents’ priorities for the town were scribbled onto colourful sticky notes at a July 12 open house at the Erin Community Centre.
Town staff gathered feedback for an ongoing update on the town’s strategic plan that will set community and council priorities for the next four years.
Boards with five strategic goals – investment in community assets, service excellence and good governance, healthy lifestyle and vibrant community, economic prosperity and growth management – displayed comments already gleaned from a previous meeting and an online survey.
“If you have an idea, write it down and stick it where you think it belongs,” Erin Mayor Michael Dehn told the gathering of around 20 residents and staff.
A lot of the feedback displayed on the boards was collected before wastewater treatment plant construction began, Mayor Michael Dehn told the Advertiser as residents put pen to paper.
Dehn said he feels there has been a significant number of people involved thus far – there were 146 responses gathered during the February-to-March survey period – but not enough businesses were involved.
Business retention wasn’t a priority, according to Dehn.
That’s since changed under the burden of construction, the mayor said, noting apparent issues with gaps in construction management and communication.
“There’s frustration around that,” the mayor remarked.
Beyond business retention, Dehn sees climate change, the impossible cost of housing and a lack of recreation space as priorities.
Some of the written comments agreed, noting a desire for green housing and buildings, housing that people can actually buy, and more leisure spaces.
Other comments suggested developing trail maps; reducing vehicular traffic; having more equestrian events; starting a year-round, indoor farmers’ market; addressing an increased need for services with population growth; and having more events in public spaces.
Still, others offered advice, including narrowing the focus of priorities to what can be achieved; protecting land and limiting growth; and providing better accountability to residents.
The sample of comments by no means provide a comprehensive view of what residents put forward, and with comments from the recent meeting collected, the town has at least 250 comments.
Feedback has been given to council to mull over and a report on council priorities, based on council’s input, will be presented at a future date, Erin spokesperson Lavina Dixit explained in an email.
“This is the hard work, is getting people to tell us what they need done in the next three years,” Dehn said at the meeting.
The mayor added he hopes work on the effort will be finished in around six weeks, near the end of August.
“We want this to be the community and council’s priorities,” he said. “We want people to be able to speak and be heard.”
Without a formal process in place to collect feedback, residents can continue to submit comments and suggestions to councillors or the town.
For detailed information on the previous iteration of the plan covering 2019-23, click or tap here.
