From a marketing perspective, it must be quite a challenge trying to drum up interest in an acronym.
But that’s the mission right now for our local trustees and Salt Spring staff, part of a stated goal to reach beyond the “usual suspects” who typically take part in our land use matters. And as they enter the second month of engagement for the island’s official community plan (OCP) review — and as we see helpful consultants planted in front of Country Grocer or posting to social media — they’re clearly trying something different.
It’s a noble effort. The OCP is meant to lay out our community’s broader goals for the future, guiding whatever growth we encounter toward a collective vision. And even with the OCP update’s scope narrowed by the three “legs” that inform the process — focus on climate change resilience, environmental protection and housing affordability — such wide-ranging plans require commensurably broad participation for the final product to be meaningful.
Of course, all government is guided by those who show up; on Salt Spring, these processes have historically been dominated by the already engaged individuals and groups whose intentions are as well-meaning as their positions are familiar. Trustees argue, and we agree, that we already have some sense about what they would like to see from a new OCP. What we don’t know is how the literally silent majority feels about land use on Salt Spring.
To paraphrase one trustee, these fundamental questions surrounding what kind of community we want to live in — what we value — need to be answered by as many islanders as possible.
So we’d like to try something different as well. In the spirit of helping our trustees cast that wider net, we are asking our readers, demonstrably well-informed and community-minded as they are: reach out to a friend, a neighbour or family member who might not be as fully steeped in the acronyms of island land use policy.
Ask them to engage with the Islands Trust in whatever way they feel most comfortable — whether listening patiently to someone holding a clipboard in front of the grocery store, or getting online to make their way through the website survey.
We are all part of our community fabric; we should all help guide its planning.