Locals can participate in shaping the future for the South Hill neighbourhood.
“We call it participatory-based planning. It’s kind of roll up your sleeves and get involved in the process,” said Lenore Swystun of Prairie Wild Consulting, a comprehensive community-based planning organization. “Who knows what you need better than the people who live, breathe and work there? So really, they get to have a direct hand in shaping their future.”
The planning session for the pilot local area-planning program will take place on March 14 from 6:30 to 9 p.m. at Riverview Collegiate, 650 Coteau St. W. Swystun said anyone is welcome to come, including youth, and people don’t have to live in South Hill to participate in the planning process.
“We’ll be kind of giving an overview of what local area planning is and how this has worked in other cities that have tried to do this kind of work and then how this will be applied here,” said Swystun. “We work hand-in-hand with the community and that means people who both live in old South Hill but also in other parts of the city because, of course, no neighbourhood is isolated. They all interconnect.”
For more information, see Monday's edition of the Times-Herald.
