Involved Communities
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Lake Planning
Over the last few years, there has been a lot of talk about "lake planning." Some lake communities have decided to create a lake plan document; various private planning consultants offer "lake planning services"; local governments and non-governmental organizations are using 'lake plan' as a new buzz word. So what exactly is lake planning? Simply, lake planning is a process that leads to a plan for a lake community. It is much the same process that happens in communities around the world when professional planners, politicians, residents and other stakeholders collaboratively envision the future of their community. Planning for a lakeside community, especially a seasonal one does however pose some specific challenges.Planning
Philosophically, planning is the recognition of how a community would like to be in the future. Planning is also thought of as the protection and enhancement of what a community values (Udy,1996). Practically, the purpose of planning is to promote sustainable economic development in a healthy natural environment and to encourage co-operation and co-ordination among various interests (Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990).Usually, planning is manifested in a series of policies that encourage certain types of behaviour or development and discourage others. It is important to realize that the intention of planning is not to limit any individual's rights, but rather to protect the rights of the general public. Sometimes, in order to protect public rights, it is necessary to limit some personal rights. When these decisions are made by the community as a whole, an effective plan is the result.
Many people assume that there is a single correct way to go about lake planning. However, it is important to realize that planning is both a social science and an applied art. There is no formula for creating a successful lake plan document, nor is it even always necessary to produce any document at all. In fact, planning is unique for each place and time. People's needs change as time passes and society changes. For example, the long-term needs of a permanent resident of a lake in Muskoka may be very different from the needs of a tourist who spends only one or two weekends per year on the same lake.
What is common to all planning, including lake planning, is public participation. A good plan identifies the concerns and needs of the community and recognizes these desires either in enforceable public policy or in some sort of "code of conduct" that all community members respect. Most good plans are also comprehensive in nature - that is, they consider people's needs in a context that includes all types of factors, rather than just one or a few. In other words, when considering the value people place on peace and quiet a comprehensive plan might consider loud boats, blasting, loud music, forestry practices and bar hours, whereas a more narrowly focused plan might only consider loud boats.
A good plan must also be objective or replicable to the extent that it is recognised by people who were not explicitly involved in the planning. Plans based totally on subjective perceptions and values risk being elitist and exclusionary, inflexible and misrepresentational.
Community Involvement
Involving community members is a challenge. Challenges begin with defining the community and its members. A lake is a landform that lends itself to an esoteric definition of the community (those surrounding the lake), but what does that really mean? Only property owners? Tenants? What about businesses? Guests at a hotel or bed-and-breakfast? Townspeople who use a beach or launch their boats?Seasonal lake communities represent special challenges to effective involvement. Most of the time, users of the lakeside residences are living somewhere else making face-to-face meetings difficult. Moreover, many users go to their cottage or (seasonal home) primarily to "escape" responsibility and what are often considered to be worries of the city.
Truly community-based planning processes are primarily concerned with building consensus amongst community stakeholders. As such, every opportunity for input and contribution is being offered all community members in all CEW-sponsored community plans. Examples of opportunities include serving on Plan Committees, volunteering, workshops, town-hall meetings, web-based communications like forums, newsletters and e-mail lists.
Capacity building is a very important tool for creating consensus in CEW-sponsored community plans. We support the development and implementation of participatory science programs (mostly considering environmental issues, but also considering some social issue like boat traffic and safety, light pollution etc.)
