Regional District of East Kootenay

Submitted

Work will soon begin on a new planning process for the Toby Benches area in the Columbia Valley.

The Toby Benches Land Use Strategy is the Regional District of East Kootenays oldest land use plan and will be replaced by a new Official Community Plan explains RDEK Electoral Area G Director Gerry Wilkie. Land use issues change over time. Its important that the residents of the Toby Benches have a Plan that is based on current information and reflects their vision for the future.

One of the first steps in the OCP process will be encouraging the community to get involved. The community is a key part of the process. We want the final Plan to reflect the communitys vision, and we need community participation to make sure that happens. I encourage the residents of the Toby Benches to get involved and be engaged every step of the way, adds RDEK Electoral Area F Director Wendy Booth.

There will be workshops and information meetings, questionnaires and newsletters as part of the planning process, which is expected to take about 13 months to complete. A mailout and introductory meeting will be held

this spring.

An Official Community Plan (OCP) is a long term strategic planning document that reflects the communitys vision for the future while providing a policy framework to promote greater certainty in land use decision making by the Regional District Board.

More information about the Toby Benches Official Community Plan process will appear on the RDEK website at www.rdek.bc.ca in the near future.