PEI needs a vision for the future of land use

“Do you have a sense of whether the 2014 land use planning report is going anywhere?  http://www.gov.pe.ca/photos/original/fema_TFreport14.pdf  Really it seems there is very little vision for the future of PEI. While there is limited appetite for regulation I admit, I think many are frustrated by some of the recent trends.”

Brad’s Response:

I agree that we really need to develop a vision for the Island – short term (1-3 years), medium term (10 years), and long term (20+ years).  This key strategy piece is missing from all areas.  I talked about this in my reply to the speech from the throne – 5m48s through to 7m17sec in the video below:

The Premier’s mandate letter to the Minister of Communities, Land and Environment does specifically mention the 2014 Report of the Task Force on Land Use Policy (the Handrahan Task Force Report) (even if he does misspell Handrahan).  I plan to hold the government to account on this.  I would agree that this doesn’t seem to be moving forward – at least not visibly.  We did get a presentation by the Minister and his department about their project to prepare land use policy for use by municipalities as a guide, but that’s all I’ve seen so far.

Here is a link to the “Have your say!” page for Land and Local Governance – basically it just says to send email to landuse@gov.pe.ca with questions or comments.

Link to Mandate Letter for Minister of Communities, Land and Environment:

In this context, I ask to you place particular priority on the following areas:

• Lead the effort, through public consultation, on a new Water Act that supports the protection and responsible use of our water resources and bring that forward in 2016 to the Legislative Assembly;
• With input from the public, update the Planning Act to include land use policies, and work with your Cabinet colleagues, communities, and Islanders to support the implementation of renewed policies in the Act in line with the recommendations of the Handrahar Task Force Report;
• Move forward on the continued implementation of the recommendations of the Carver Report on the Lands Protection Act;
• Take proactive action to prepare for and mitigate the adverse effects of climate change, including joint planning with the Atlantic and Federal Governments, and support for measures to increase PEl’s move to more green energy sources and enhanced coordination in all aspects of energy use;
• Conduct consultations on and bring forward a new Municipal Government Act to integrate and modernize existing legislation and increase accountability, accessibility, transparency, responsiveness, and efficiency; and
• Work with the Department of Finance on a new funding system for municipalities on PEl.