With a full house at Council Chambers, our open letter was read before Council:
Find the Video Recording Here: Committee of the Whole-Open Letter Reading
Key Moments:
9:50 - Another compelling community letter read, relating to development process concerns in our Village.
41:54- The Warden moves the reading of our letter up in the order of the Agenda, due to the substantial community show up at Council Chambers.
Not only was Chambers Full, but there was an overflow of concerned community members listening in from the other side of the Wall!
43.25- Open Letter Reading Starts.
44.48- Outline of our concerns with the Village Plan Review Process + Timelines to date.
53.10- We outline central areas of concern with the Proposed Plan:
53.14- Lack of Reflection of Village Values Concerns;
56.20- Water and Resource Management Concerns;
1.01.08- Lack of Quantitative Data + Independent Review Concerns.
1.03.58- Our Ask to Council to Take Action + Work with Us.
1.05.03- The Warden's Response (Or Lack There Of!)
While we were pleased to see our letter was added for public reading to Council, we had hoped Council would use this opportunity to rise to the occasion by confirming their commitment to the Community by sending an immediate direction to the Planning Department to engage in further public consultation before presenting their "What We Heard" Report to Council.
Instead, the Warden deferred the matter by indicating he would wait on the Planning Department to present their "What We Heard" Report before providing the Planning Department with any direction.
Our letter, along with the many individual letter sent by caring community members, already establishes that the Planning Department did not engage in enough public consultation to be able to provide a constructive "What We Heard" Report at this time, and by not engaging in further public consultation now, this Report will now simply reflect another process concern in the Village Plan Review timeline.
Our dedication to ensuring that both Council + the Planning Department ensure the Village Plan Review involves collaboration with, and consideration of, our community, continues and we will soon return with further updates for you.
Thank you to the many individuals who showed up for our Community by attending the Committee of the Whole meeting on September 07, 2023. Please continue to comment, share, and provide your feedback to the Chester Planning Department + Council. Together, we are ensuring our Village is one built on social consciousness + community!