Virtual Workshop Discussion

Virtual workshops are happening on June 1 and 3 to discuss proposed policy directions for climate change and natural heritage systems and water resources in response to changes in planning related Provincial legislation, policies, and plans. The Official Plan review policy paper provides an overview of these Provincial changes and outlines proposed policy directions to consider as we update Guelph's Official Plan.

Here are some things to read and think about ahead of these workshops.

Climate Change Workshop

Climate change is the present and future consequences from changes in weather patterns at local and regional levels including extreme weather events and increased climate variability (Provincial Policy Statement, 2020).

How can we use land use planning to mitigate or adapt to a changing climate?
The Official Plan includes a section on climate change and provides policy direction to increase community resiliency to climate change recognizing that addressing climate change requires two complementary sets of strategies, mitigation and adaptation. The Official Plan review policy paper includes what we think are required updates to the Official Plan to align with changes in provincial policies and plans. What are your thoughts on these proposed updates? What do you think should be included in our Official Plan to set the stage for future work through climate change mitigation and adaptation plans?

Resources

Natural Heritage System and Water Resource Workshop

A natural heritage system is a system that is made up of natural heritage features and areas and linkages intended to provide connectivity and support natural processes which are necessary to maintain biological and geological diversity, natural functions, viable populations of indigenous species and ecosystems (Provincial Policy Statement, 2020). Guelph’s natural heritage system is shown on Schedules 4 and 4A-4E of the Official Plan.

A water resource system consists of ground water features and areas and surface water features and hydrologic functions, which provide the water resources necessary to sustain healthy aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems and human water consumptions. Water resource systems will comprise key hydrologic features and key hydrologic areas (Provincial Policy Statement, 2020).

How can we use land use planning to further protect and manage our natural heritage system and water resources?
The Official Plan is based on an environment first approach to land use planning. It includes the identification of and policies related to our natural heritage system. The Official Plan review policy paper includes what we think are required updates to the Official Plan to align with changes in provincial policies and plans. What are your thoughts on these proposed updates? Are there other changes to the Official Plan that should be considered to align with Provincial policies and plans?

Resources

We hope that you will take the time to explore some of the related resource documents below: