Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) directors and senior staff are hitting the road this month for a series of first-of-their-kind community dialogues.
“We recognize that people in the community feel it’s more inclusive, more accessible, if they are brought into forums where there are more face-to-face opportunities to ask questions and get information,” said CAO Janette Loveys at a May 5 media briefing on the upcoming dialogue sessions.
The dialogues are all set for 7 p.m. with the first to be held May 16 in Sechelt.
“We’ll be the guinea pig,” joked Sechelt director Alice Lutes. “But I really look forward to welcoming the community to learn more about the regional district when we’re not in a conflict situation.”
The other dialogues will be May 17 in Elphinstone, May 18 in Gibsons, May 19 in Roberts Creek, May 24 in Pender Harbour, May 25 in West Howe Sound, and May 26 in Halfmoon Bay (see scrd.ca for details).
Halfmoon Bay director and SCRD chair Garry Nohr says he’s optimistic because they’ve already seen good results from a similar approach to engaging the community about Persephone Brewing.
“It’ll be the first time around. We’ll see how it goes,” Nohr said. “I think what I saw in the public meetings in Area F over Persephone. There were a couple of times it started getting rocky, but the directors were there and they helped out and the staff were there and did a great job … Once people get used to it, it’ll be a great process.”
Other directors were equally enthusiastic about the potential.
“Roberts Creek is just down the road, but sometimes it seems like there’s a lot of distance between Roberts Creek and the [SCRD headquarters at the] top of Field Road,” noted director Mark Lebbell, who added that he’s looking forward to hearing new voices and taking a more human approach to some complex issues.
Those issues will undoubtedly include the SCRD’s plan for universal water metering, management of the water supply, and transportation. SCRD officials say they want the agenda at the session to come from the attendees, and Loveys says they’ll try to ensure managers are on hand with expertise in most of the topics that could come up.
There will also be a dialogue session for the shíshálh Nation, but the date hasn’t been settled. Winn said they’re working on dates when seasonal property owners are most likely to be able to attend for a session aimed at islanders.
Although they’re not part of the community dialogue sessions, the SCRD also has two other outreach events in May – a session on invasive species May 16 at the shíshálh Band Hall at 5 p.m. and a session on bike paths and walkways May 18 at 4 p.m. at the Seaside Centre in Sechelt.
