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Town hosts public meeting on planning for future growth

March 14, 2024   ·   0 Comments

By Brian Lockhart

With the population of New Tecumseth predicted to double over the next 30 years, the Town is already looking ahead to determine the best way to grow.

A series of public meetings will be held to give residents a chance to voice their opinions on how growth should look.

The first meeting was held at the Alliston Memorial Arena on Tuesday, March 5, with a very good turnout.

Residents had the opportunity to voice their opinions on a variety of growth-related topics such as what type of housing they would like to see more of, public transport, parks and recreation, and schools.

In Ontario, growth is not a municipal decision – it is mandated by the province, and if the province says a municipality has to grow, it will.

The Town’s Official Plan must reflect the policy direction given by the Province of Ontario through policy documents including the Provincial Policy Statement.

The County of Simcoe has updated its Official Plan to align with the provincial policies.

A consulting firm has been working on new growth strategies.

At the public meeting, there were three different possible growth scenarios and they were shown on maps of the entire town from Alliston to Tottenham.

Scenario one, suggests 90 per cent of the growth will take place in Alliston, with minor growth in Beeton and no growth in Tottenham.

Scenario two, suggests 85 per cent of the growth in Alliston, with minor growth in both Beeton and Tottenham.

The third scenario includes 61 percent of the growth to be in Alliston with larger growth in both Beeton and Tottenham.

“This is a public information session,” explained Laura Brannon, senior planner and project manager for the Town. “We are inviting feedback on the potential scenarios for growth. We have a survey, and we want people to sign up for the newsletter so they are more engaged. We are initiating the discussion on how and where the Town wants to grow. Growth is established at the provincial level. We are identified as a primary settlement area. They establish how much land we need, and also establish our population forecast – we’re going to grow to a population of around 80,000 by 2051.”

The three scenarios for growth that have been delivered are through consultants and none are permanent at this point in time.

“This is a public launch and open house to the official plan review and growth management study,” explained Jennifer Best, the Town’s director of planning and building. “This is [a] 30 year planning horizon, out to 2051 to accommodate our future population and employment growth.”

The fact that so many people turned out for this event was a good sign, Ms. Best said.

“It is very inspiring because when development generally happens, they seen an earth mover show up, or a sign, and then trying to plan ahead for 30 years – it’s too late at that point. Right now is the key time to come out and help us shape how our town is going to grow, and where we are going to grow and what it’s going to look like. It’s all about vibrant communities and where we are going to house people, where they are going to work, where they are going to learn, where they are going to play – all of those components that are important elements of the community.

When visitors entered the hall of the arena, they could follow a route that brought them to several stations where they could offer their opinions on various matters.

“We are asking those key questions about housing options,” Ms. Best explained. “What types of transportation should we be looking at? Do we need more active transportation with more bike lanes and pedestrian routes? How do we deal with large trucks? We have a vibrant agricultural community so we’ll be growing out into those lands. How do we make that connection between those agricultural and urban areas? We also want to know about commercial areas.”

The meeting provided a lot of good input from residents who were eager to offer their opinions on how the town should handle future growth.

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