Make your survey answers count

We urge anyone who has an interest in the direction of Clearview Township to participate in the Strategic Plan review survey.

Clearview council and staff are putting a lot of stock in the strategic plan review and the survey so it is imperative that anyone who has an interest in having input on defining priorities that will guide staff and council for the next five to 10 years have their say.

The survey is sort of a last call for input during the initial public consultation round of the Strategic Plan review process. Consultants first spoke with council and staff, and conducted one-on-one interviews with an undefined list of stakeholders before hosting a series of round table discussions in various communities throughout Clearview Township.

For those of us who had participated in other community consultation sessions – like the one held prior to the construction of Creemore Village Green – the experience was different. Many people left the session wondering what cohesive messages would be going into the report.

A roundtable discussion usually starts with an open ended question and people are encouraged to give input, which is recorded on a large sheet of paper that everyone can see. During the Strategic Plan round table talks held in Creemore, the sessions started with the facilitators defining the topics, asking pointed questions and sometimes recording personal notes. The process was definitely different and at times downright confusing. There was an unreasonable assumption that participants were familiar with the existing Strategic Plan and the current policies and procedures of the township.

Not all roundtable sessions were led by professional facilitators so some people were left wondering how their opinions would be recorded and if their input would be well represented in the final report.

The survey is presented in more general terms but participants have several opportunities to elaborate and provide their thoughts. We ask people to keep climate action and housing at the top of their minds while taking the survey. These are two actions thatstaff and council have delayed while waiting for the results of the Strategic Plan review. Council of the day voted to discuss creating a committee to address housing and approved the creation of a climate action committee. Both have been delayed, pending the review.

While council and staff may be of the opinion that residents wish to provide input into those two crises facing this community and most others, we have always thought of the striking of the committees as a commitment to action.

Collingwood has just met two milestones through its participation in the Partners for Climate Protection Program and housing advocates can have an impact by liaising with upper tier governments.

So weigh in. The survey is open until Aug. 30 and is available via Clearview.ca. Paper copies are also available at the Clearview Administration Centre.