The City of Guelph is looking to the future, specifically the years 2020 to 2030.
The Guelph Community Plan was officially launched on Thursday.
It’s a city initiative that will spend two years interacting with individuals, organizations and agencies to get a firm grip on what the city should look like by 2030.
“It’s time for us as a city to be looking at where Guelph is going as a city in the next 10 years,” said Mayor Cam Guthrie, calling it a “road map” and “guidebook” for the future.
“This will be the DNA of what makes Guelph an amazing place to be … what makes Guelph great,” the Mayor said.
Economic, cultural, educational, social, environmental and health are all areas included in the plan.
For the next year the city will be conducting outreach to gather information. Surveys, focus groups, casual town hall meetings and intense workshops will all be facilitated by the city.
City staff will then take that information and create a plan that will be presented to City Council in the summer or fall of 2019.
The Guelph Community plan, which was first introduced to council in July but officially launched Thursday at a meeting with the Guelph Chamber of Commerce, goes beyond economic development and urban planning principals.
It’s also beyond what provincial legislation and regulations, or the city’s own Official Plan, covers.
“It’s all encompassing,” Guthrie said. “It’s about maintaining the character of Guelph.”
Guelph’s position in the province’s innovation corridor and the impending enhancements in rail service means changes are coming to the city.
Guthrie said we need to be ready for the changes, embrace them, but at the same time make sure we don’t lose the character of the city.
He said the community will be listened to, that this isn’t merely an exercise that won’t lead to tangible results.
“I’m not here to create reports that sit on shelves at City Hall and collect dust,” he said.
“No matter what walk of life, we want to hear from you."
