Future Oxford

Wednesday, 29 October 2014 05:42

Work has begun on the County's first community sustainability plan.

OXFORD COUNTY - Over the next few months, locals are going to be given many opportunities to give input on a new Sustainability Plan for the County.

The Plan is meant to serve as a guideline that can be used when making decisions that will impact the quality of life for residents in the future.

Chair of the Community Sustainability Steering Committee, Chris Friesen says the sustainability committee has branded themselves 'Future Oxford'.

"The impetus behind this is more, it's not so much that we want to recreate what Oxford County is because that's not what sustainability is, we want to make sure all the decision we make as a County -- that are made within the County -- will help Oxford County remain to be the place that it is. That we enjoy living in."

Friesen says the goal is to connect and engage as much of Oxford's community as possible to inform and inspire the vision, goals, actions and targets of the community sustainability plan.

He says the end product has to be more than a product that sits in a binder that never gets used, as well as the development of a decision making matrix.

"A way to guide our decisions -- whether it's at the public level or the private level -- that when we are making decision whether it's urban development, environmental factors, the social services we need, that we are looking at this decision making matrix to make sure we are consistant. Which goes back to the values and the ideas that we heard from the community."

Next week they will be launching a competition for students.

"One of the first things we have to get people to do is get people in their minds, to think about the future. We thought a very simple way to start is to say 'okay put on that futuristic hat, where do you see us being in 2030?' Of course, what that will lead to is, we will know what people value, we know what people want not to disappear or they want to see something grow, they want to see something be created."

"It's a great way to get people brainstorming without being too full of barriers because sometimes we get caught up in why things can't happen. The future scenarios contest is more of a way to get people to think about what might be, not why it can't be."

Submissions of video, artwork or essays will be featured on their website with prizes for the top entries.

Full details can be found on their website FutureOxford.ca