BEPPLE – Strat plan an opportunity for community and City to work together

THIS WEEK, City of Kamloops City council launched its strategic plan. It’s a road map for what the council wants to accomplish over its 4-year mandate. It will also be used by City staff to create an operational plan as to how to accomplish the council’s goals.

The plan has 5 themes. Safety and Security; Governance and Service Excellence; Liveability and Sustainability; Economic Health; and Advocacy.

For example, under Safety and Security, the plan states “We proactively create opportunities to increase the inventory of diverse housing supply so that residents can access and move throughout the housing continuum”.

Under Liveability and Sustainability, the plan states, “We prioritize the development of amenities to cultivate diverse and equitable opportunities for recreation, arts, and culture.”

The goals set out what the council wants to accomplish. But it is also an opportunity for community groups to make headway in areas they are concerned about.

Over the years, there has been strong community interest in a performing arts centre and for additional recreational facilities such as ice rinks and seniors’ space. Groups and individuals supporting these should look at “development of amenities” and see an opportunity. Now is the time to come forward and back the goal to ensure it goes from goal to reality.

If I was an arts group, sporting group, or seniors’ group in Kamloops, I would be making sure City Council knew that your members supported the goal, and asking what they could do to help make sure the goal moved forward.

Many of the goals in the plan require community partners. The City of Kamloops does not build housing. It will be up to developers and builders to come forward to do the work, along with willing property owners and funders. In order for the City to “increase the inventory of diverse housing continuum” it will have to find ways to make it easier for housing to be built.

For example, in the City of Calgary and other cities, developers who come with drawings that have been created by engineers and architects don’t require the drawings to go through all the planning review steps.

Engineers and architects have professional certification requiring them to follow certain criteria. Calgary determined it was redundant to have the drawings reviewed again. One less step makes building quicker and more affordable.

For City of Kamloops to build more housing faster, new ways of doing things will have to be found. Listening to developers and builders will be an important step.

There are twenty specific goals in the council’s strategic plan. The majority of them require partnership with community to accomplish.

My recommendation to community groups that want to make headway is to read the strategic plan and see which goals match with their group’s goals. Then let the City know how you can help to accomplish the City’s goals.

For example, under Economic Health, there is a goal for “We seek and foster the key relationships that will support our economic goals.” I recommend any business focused group to come forward with ideas for improving the economy in Kamloops.

This week I spoke to two environmental focused groups. In both cases, I told them to let the City know how their work could help the City achieve its goals.

For example, one of the strategic plan’s goals is “We practice discipline in our environmental responsibility by enhancing the City’s resiliency and capacity for mitigating climate change. We actively implement actions to reduce our environmental impacts.”

Whether preserving wetlands or improving bird habitat, environmental groups’ goals can help to meet City Council’s strategic goals. The City needs to hear from these groups and others.

There is no way the City of Kamloops City council can accomplish its strategic plan without buy-in from the community. At the same time, the plan is a great opportunity for the community to make headway in areas they are passionate about.

I encourage everyone to read the strategic plans which are on the City of Kamloops website. I especially encourage community and business groups to see which of the strategic plan’s goals align with what they want to accomplish. The strategic plan is a great opportunity for the community and the City to work together.

Nancy Bepple is a Kamloops City councillor with a strong interest in community building projects.