800 voices heard from through ExpOCP

The number of in-person conversations and contacts about the Official Community Plan rose to over 2,200 following the recent ExpOCP event. ExpOCP was the City’s second phase of engagement in the development of the Official Community Plan which will set the direction for the community for the next 25 years. This phase drilled deeper into some of the key topics that surfaced in earlier engagements including the economy, housing, transportation, arts, culture, heritage and the environment. Over 120 pages of comments were gathered during the multi-day expo held at the project’s temporary storefront at 249 Westminster Avenue.

“We are very pleased with the outcome of the expo and the quality of the input we have gathered,” says Ben Johnson, special projects manager leading the development of the OCP. “We were especially pleased to see the wide range of participation. From youth to young professionals to boomers and retirees, a great selection of voices was heard from.”

Staff gathered feedback at the expo through conversations with attendees, hands-on activities, online contributions as well as through the ExpOCP Passport feedback forms. The job for staff now is to compile the feedback and extract the themes in order to draft the key policy areas that will shape the plan. Anyone interested in reviewing what was provided in the feedback forms can find the unedited comments on the City’s shapeyourcitypenticton.ca site.

“We are getting much more specific at this stage of the process,” says Johnson. “Residents will start to see how their feedback is reflected in the direction of the plan.”

Staff plan to take the draft policies out to the community this spring. The City will vacate the 249 Westminster location at the end of February after hosting close to 20 activities during the two-month lease. Residents are encouraged to watch for more information on shapeyourcitypenticton.ca for the next phase of involvement.