Community

CBS residents asked to look a decade ahead

By Chris Lewis   |   Vol. 31 No. 52 (March 13 2019)

The Town of Conception Bay South is preparing for the future with its new 10-year plan.


The CBS 2030 project is a collaboration between officials with the Town of Conception bay South and Upland Studio – a team of planners and landscape architects with a focus on things such as downtown revitalization projects, streetscape studies, and growth management for communities they work with.


The scope of this particular project is to highlight some of the main issues the Town may face during the next decade and how it can be better prepared for those challenges.


Preparation of the plan includes at least two public consultation sessions, which were held Monday at Worsley Park and Tuesday at the Parsons Clubhouse in Seal Cove.


Ian Watson is one of the Upland representatives who was present at Monday night’s session. He explained to the crowd what the purpose of the sessions were, where they see the project going, and what the public could do to add to the information they need.


“What we’re doing is reviewing the municipal plan and development regulations. So, really, it’s the blueprint for how Conception Bay South is going to develop over the next 10 years. How do we make places for housing, for businesses, for parks and recreation? That all falls under what we’re looking at here,” Watson said.


In an interview afterwards, Watson said some of the major talking points for the project up to this point is the possibility of introducing some multi-unit housing to the area, noting that although Newfoundland and Labrador has an aging population, there are still many younger individuals with new families coming into the community, so smaller housing options would be ideal for those prospective residents.


“We’re also looking into topics like climate change and sea level rise, and aging populations,” Watson said. “We want to prepare Conception Bay South to handle those changes that are happening to the province, and the area, over the next 10 years.”


Attendees of Monday night’s event were given the opportunity to express their concerns via boards that could be found in the room, each titled with individual questions such as what the primary considerations would be for housing or infrastructure and services in Conception Bay South.


They could also highlight areas on an enlarged map of the region in the back of the room. Their notes, the residents were told, could cover a myriad of topics highlighting what they want to see covered by the CBS 2030 project.


“What we hear here tonight, and what we collect from the surveys, we’re going to take it all and condense it into one big report – a ‘What we heard’ report – and that would ideally come back to council in April. From there, it’ll be posted up on the project’s website for anyone to view,” Watson said. “We’re having good conversations tonight, I really appreciate one on one conversations that we’re having with residents. That’s when people really get to talk about what’s important to them within their community.”

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