What will the Sunshine Coast look like in five, 10, 20 years' time? What will our neighborhoods look like? What will our parks and roads look like? What impact will climate have on our plans?
Those are questions the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) needs the people of the lower Coast to think about and comment on during the second stage of our region’s renewal of Official Community Plans (OCP). In a May 27 press release, the SCRD announced public engagement on these updates will kick off at the Sunshine Coast Pride Festival at Mission Point Park in Sechelt on June 1 and will continue at events throughout summer 2025, to March 2026.
To prime the pump for a flow of ideas, the local government invited the public to explore the importance of OCPs that are up to date and reflective of the views of residents, with a Let’s Talk page that explains why the updates are important, how the renewals will be done and how everyone can be involved.
“The SCRD is responsible for updating OCPs in Egmont/Pender Harbour, Halfmoon Bay, Roberts Creek, Elphinstone, and West Howe Sound,” the statement outlined. Those plans, which are from seven to 30 years old, were referred to as “a roadmap for the future” and ones that guide “how our communities grow, evolve, and respond to change."
The regional reviews are a part of the revamping of OCPs throughout the lower Sunshine Coast. The municipal governments in Sechelt and Gibsons are leading OCP update processes for their jurisdictions. The shíshálh Nation is also leading a land use planning process for their swiya, which includes areas from the north tip to the centre of the lower Coast.
The release noted “Staff from each local government are regularly in contact to ensure a collaborative approach to official community planning on the Sunshine Coast."
Directors suggest process tweaks
The importance of coordination among the plans from the different area jurisdictions was raised when SCRD elected officials discussed the regional process at their May 16 Electoral Services Committee meeting.
Another concern of the committee was establishing an effective and wide-ranging public engagement. During that debate, Area D (Roberts Creek) director Kelly Backs asked regional staff to “think outside the box” in seeking public input. His call was for a focus on engagement with youth.
“It is their future, I’d like to hear what they have to say about the future of the Sunshine Coast,” he stated.
Area E (Elphinstone) director Donna McMahon said staff need to clearly “define what is in and out of scope for this process” as in her view “many in the public are not clear on what OCP is and does."
She also commented that finding places for pop-up OCP engagement events in her area was “super challenging." Her suggestion was to include one at the Quality Farms' “Fall Fair."
At the committee meeting, chief administrative officer Tina Perreault encouraged all directors to provide their suggestions and feedback on the process to regional planning staff via email.
According to the “Let’s Talk” page, in July 2026, the information gathered is to be summarized in an update to the SCRD Board. That is projected to be the final update before the local government elections in October 2026.
