Coldstream Corner: Regional Growth Strategy

Sunday, November 20, 2016

Regional Growth Strategy

I've heard of it previously, mostly that it was being conducted by the Regional District of North Okanagan.

Didn't pay much attention to it though.

Not until today when I learned that the North Okanagan's Regional Growth Strategy was being conducted with the support of EcoPlan International, the University of British Columbia and the Real Estate Foundation of B.C.

The RGS framework development was recognized by the Planning Institute of B.C. and awarded a gold medal in 2014 for Excellence in Planning Practice.

Here's the interesting part...and while you're reading...may I suggest you think the word "motivation":

The RDNO was successful in securing a $35,000 grant from the

Real Estate Foundation of B.C. ,

with contributions from other project partners

totalling $80,000 to update the

Monitoring and Evaluation Program

as a component of the growth strategy's 5-year review.

RDNO has contributed $20,000

and funds are being contributed by various partners, including:

- Okanagan Basin Water Board $15,000;

- Regional District Central Okanagan $5,000;

- Regional District Okanagan/Similkameen $5,000.

What on earth would the Real Estate Foundation of B.C. have as motivation for giving the North Okanagan's growth management strategy thirty-five thousand big (dollars) ones?

And the Okanagan Basin Water Board's $15,000 grant...kinda like giving some of our money back, ne c'est pas? But just to the RDNO, not back to residents.

The State of the Region 2016 Report is found here beginning at page 6 of 36, but some noteworthy excerpts are included in this blog entry, called "meat n potatoes" below:

A quick overview shows there are 7 policy areas: Urban Containment, Agriculture and Food Systems, Water Stewardship, Environment and Natural Lands / Energy and Emissions, Economic Development, Transportation and Infrastructure, and Housing.

Not surprisingly, the add-on (Policy 8) was listed separately: Governance and Service Delivery.
Maybe because governments know how testy the public here can be when it comes to "governance", or the lack / dysfunction of it, as some political candidates were wont to call it during a recent local election campaign (with residents agreeing wholeheartedly!)

Meat 'n potatoes, with corresponding government report card:
Begin at page 9 (of the 36 page link above), but I'll list some that I consider to be of particular interest:

Urban containment: Much better. Only 17 ha lost from 2011 to 2015, the previous five years we lost 178 ha.

Agriculture and Food:
ALR land: Doing well. Increase of 0.04% since 2011 despite development pressure
Farm employment: OK. Decrease of 8% to 6% of all employment
Farm profitability: Doing well. Up from 8 to 11% 2006 to 2011
Farmland diversity: Baseline. Diversity 0.23. 87% is forage or pastureland.
Farms diversity by type: Making progress. Farm diversity high and increasing 0.80 to 0.81 ('06 to '11)

Water stewardship: (stewardship? my personal foe!)
Installation of water meters: Doing Well. (Did anyone here have a choice? No!) 100% of households, businesses and agriculture have meter installed in Vernon, Armstrong, Coldstream, Lumby; and 97.4% in Enderby.

Water quality alerts: Doing Well. From 2006 to 2016 water quality alerts decreased overall. Large water utilities decreased from 11 to 1.

Water used by major water utilities: Baseline. Much of our regional population and industry receive water from a handful of major utilities.

Groundwater levels: % of observations wells showing increase/decrease in average annual levels: Possibly improving. Increased an average of 0.4 metres overall with with 78% of wells showing an increase from 2011 to 2016. However, average levels are still down more than a meter since 2001.

I'm going to stop there and go directly to "How are we doing?" Readers can go to page 10 of the 36 page (link provided above) to continue reading, with the next being policy being Environment.

So...how are the bureaucrat planners and professional educators doing?

"...the amount and rate at which land in the North Okanagan has been rezoned from a "rural" zone (wherein new lots must be at least 1 hectare) to other "non-rural" zoning (wherein new lots may be less than 1 hectare) is one indicator of the demand for new, smaller lots."

"...since 2011, the amount of land in the North Okanagan within the ALR has increased by 6 hectares (+/- 0.04%) with the inclusions primarily taking place in the Spallumcheen area."

Page 13 (of 36) begins a section entitled Focus Development into Growth Areas, Protect Rural Lands.

And then there's this Water Stewardship "gem", where someone forgot to mention to the report writers that other stakeholders were involved too! (Even though we all know that only agriculture and Interior Health had any clout in the process!)

No wonder only Agriculture and Interior Health reps knew the way in...

"The GVW Master Water Plan, completed in 2012, is a detailed water utility study that reviews progress and provides direction for the next 40 years to ensure compliance with Provincial standards to safeguard health and to meet future water needs based on predicted growth."

"The Master Water Plan is the outcome of a partnership between RDNO, the City of Vernon, and the District of Coldstream in consultation with professional engineers and a Technical Advisory Committee comprised of local government staff as well as representatives from the agricultural community and Interior Health."

"The Master Water Plan is a living document that continues to be updated by expert engineering analysis and current Okanagan water information and technology."

"The MWP omits a professional peer review," Kia would've said.

...Its largest omission was the ability to listen constructively to those whose scientific ideas were (and remain) noteworthy.

The draft document's concluding sections are an interesting read.

But I'm left wondering whether the Real Estate Foundation of B.C. felt they got "bang for their $35,000 bucks".
Still wondering about their motivation though.