Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Land Use Framework and what does it mean to the little guys?

The land use framework has put out by the province, will divide the province in to six regions based on watersheds.
Regional advisory councils will be set up for each region, appointed by the provincial government, to determine regional land use objectives.
We lucky folks are in a region that runs from North of Red Deer south to the US border and encompasses everything from BC to the Saskatchewan border. Including of course Calgary, by my calculations our 5700 people will be part of a region consisting of a population of 1.5 to 2 million people we will be 0.25% of the regional population.
We know the board for the region will be picked by the provincial government, key questions who will sit on that board? how many will be elected representatives? how many bureaucrats? how many other experts?. What will be the spilt between urban and rural, if you do any kind of representation by population or political clout (Bronconnier's name jumps to mind).
I believe certainly in our region we are going to be the resource base and playground for Calgary.
How much power will small municipalities have to maintain the direction of development in their community, will density issues for example be determined by the region or the community, look at today's Calgary Sun Bronconnier is whining about country residential lots outside his city limits.
I believe these boards and their regional objectives will be totally dominated by the needs of the major centres in each region. Is this the beginning of the end of municipal government especially in small communities like ours?

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