Morden's city council is preparing for 20 years into the future, hoping to provide sustainability, consistency in planning, and follow through with three new plans, called 'Shaping Morden's Future Together.'
According to the City of Morden website, these plans will help prepare for the goal of 20,000 residents by the year 2045.
Mayor Nancy Penner explained, "It's providing some information on land use and infrastructure for the next generation. Morden is looking at a couple of planning issues. One is a land use master plan and infrastructure for the next generation. We're also looking at a Secondary Plan for the downtown area and undeveloped areas, and we're also looking at a climate action plan for this city."
"Morden-Stanley-Thompson-Winkler Planning District (MSTW) has a development plan with principles for development," Penner added, " but we want to be a little bit more neighborhood specific in the guidance for new development."
This is why the Secondary Plan was created.
"The secondary plan is also important when we look at Morden's downtown. Right now, we're undergoing some substantial development and redevelopment in our downtown area, and we want to make sure that the central business district is being developed. We want to make sure it's being developed into a vibrant mixed-use hub, while still preserving its historic characteristics."
The mayor recognized there are undeveloped areas within the city and expressed a desire to make sure that there is a plan to how these areas are developed when the time comes. In these plans, playgrounds, sidewalks, and other secondary items can be included in the infrastructure master plan.
Infrastructure Master Plan
The Infrastructure Master Plan addresses infrastructure needs as a result of the rapid growth Morden has experienced in the last ten years and aims to deal with aging infrastructure as well as infrastructure expansion.
"As time goes on and councils change, new ideas come to light, but if we had a master plan to follow, it would help over the next 10 to 20 years. This is to help the city meet future infrastructure demand in a really cost-effective and sustainable manner. That was our goal."
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There are a number of issues that fall under this category, like transportation, water and wastewater, storm drainage systems, and climate resilience. These plans need to align with MSTW's development plan, Penner noted.
Climate Action Plan
The third and final part of the 'Shaping Morden's Future Together' masterplan is the Climate Action Plan, which Penner stated, " You can mitigate climate issues, but I think that's kind of avoiding the issue, but if you have a climate adaptation plan, you're preparing for climate changes."
With floods and drought impacting Morden over the last number of years, council is in the early stages of meeting with consultants to walk them through the creation of a climate adaptation plan to help prepare Morden for what's coming down the road.
Mayor Penner is excited to see the final result of this work.
The measure of success
She assured residents that part of this planning process will be to monitor success along the way.
"That will definitely be part of how we go forward with the plan in terms of how we know this will be successful in the long run. What are some of our checks and balances? And how do we know we meet our goals? And how can we modify this plan as we go forward? Because we don't want it written in stone, we want to be able to adapt as we go along. There's always going to be changes. Regulations will change and new technologies will come up as we go forward."
She gave the example of the current wastewater project.
"We are designing a wastewater treatment facility for today, but as we go forward and if expansion needs to come, maybe new technology will be available to us 10-15 years down the road that we can capture new technologies."
Penner admitted everybody likes to know there is a plan in place and that it's not just "piecemeal." She hopes this master plan will bring efficiency to growth moving forward, which will make it cost-effective as well.
Consultation and Communication
"Council is excited to work through these, and stakeholders will be consulted on them. We'll be sharing this with the public as we go forward, having open houses, and sharing all these plans with the community as they are developed."
Keep informed on new information as it becomes available on the City of Morden Website.