THURSDAY, JULY 23, 2009 0 JASPER, AB, the fitzhugh 9

Hinton set
to launch
sustainability plan
By AMY WILSON-CHAPMAN
Reporter

It’s the Town of Hinton’s turn to develop a 30

year Community Sustainability Plan (CSP),
which according to a statement issued by
the town, will leave “a positive legacy for
future generations.”
The plan will “provide an opportunity
for all citizens to engage and define
their vision of Hinton... to collectively
advance clear priorities and continue to
progressively move forward,” said Mayor
of Hinton Glenn Taylor.
To kick start the plan and community
engagement, Hintonites are being asked,
“what do you value about Hinton and area
today?” and “what is your vision for Hinton
and area in 30 years?”
Also, the town is currently seeking people
to form the Citizen’s Advisory Group which
will actively engage Hintonites throughout
the process.
“We’re advertising for an advisory group
to work on sustainable principles. The cut off
is August 13,” said Wendy Lesser, municipal
sustainability co-ordinator for the town
of Hinton. “We’ll have between 11 and 13
members and want a full representation of
the five pillars of sustainability.”
The town hopes to have working groups
formed by September, with the plan unveiled
to the public by May 2010, Lesser said.
The CSP will address the social, economic,
cultural, environmental, and governance
questions which are the five pillars of the
Alberta Urban Municipalities Association
is encouraging communities to consider
when making decisions about the sustainable
development of their communities.
Lesser said the town is looking to
learn from other communities that are
currently rewriting their development
plans, such as Jasper.
“We’ve learned a lot of lessons from
other municipalities, who tell us the overall
challenge is engagement,” Lesser said.
The plan, which looks forward 30 years,
will identify short, medium and long term
actions for implementation and will be
reviewed annually, according to the town.
Rather than call the project a development
plan the former title for such documents,
—

Hinton chose to follow a sustainability plan

framework in hope of achieving greater
involvement from the community.
Lesser said she’s already fielded a number
of calls from those looking to join the
working group. To be eligible, citizens must
live in Hinton.
Anyone wanting to be on the Citizen’s
Advisory Group is asked to visit www.
hinton.ca by August 13 and people can start
taking part in the plan by visiting the same
website.
- Withjulesfrom Justin Brisbane