After a year in development, the Township of Mulmur has approved its first-ever Strategic Plan.
A blueprint for the future, the plan outlines five goals for the Township to achieve by 2018: to grow its residential and industrial/commercial development; increase awareness about Mulmur as a destination for recreation; improve local access to services; establish funding guidelines and cost-efficient purchasing protocols for major and recurring expenses; and increase public participation in Township governance and volunteerism.
“The Strategic Plan is very important because it is going to give Council direction over the next five years,” said Mulmur Mayor Paul Mills. “It will give the Councillors focus.”
Titled “Mulmur’s Thriving Future,” the plan sets out a vision of a Township that balances rural life with responsible economic and social development for all residents.
It contains the goal of increasing business in the area by 2 to 10 per cent and includes the recommendation to form a Development Committee. Whether this will be a Committee of Council or a community group remains to be decided by Council.
A Steering Committee headed by Keith Lowry and guided by Sue Powell of the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, spent the past year gathering public input through surveys and Town Hall meetings. As well, the Committee considered feedback from emails it received and from public meetings held throughout 2013.
The respondents and participants included long-term residents, newcomers, weekenders, farmers and business people, who voiced opinions on such issues as traffic, agricultural heritage, land-use planning and working with other municipalities.
“We needed to have a broad-based sense of community values, issues and beliefs,” said Lowry. “We were delighted about the quality and quantity of responses and suggestions.”
“A key finding from the surveys,” said Lowry, “is that Mulmur’s beauty attracts people and keeps people.” But, he added, “The composition of the Township has changed over the last 15 years. An increasing number of people began as weekenders and became permanent residents.”
He said that many people come to Mulmur who aren’t totally bound by the area’s agricultural past. However, Lowry says the attitude from the more established families is an open one. “I’ve seen the openness of families who have been here for a long time to have new people come in and take part in the community,” he said.
The Steering Committee found that while costs of services are rising, tax revenues are projected to remain stable or decline. And it found that meeting the diverse needs of Mulmur’s demographic mix will present a special set of challenges in the coming years.
The Strategic Plan has been drawn up to meet these challenges.
One way the Plan addresses the rising cost of delivering services is to integrate resources in Mulmur. For instance, the Honeywood Arena at the North Dufferin Community Centre and the Mansfield baseball park currently have two separate recreational boards. Under the Plan, the two facilities will be centralized under one board; a move that will save money and help integrate the two communities.
“The idea is to let people from Mansfield know what is going on in Honeywood, what facilities the two areas have, and vice versa,” Mills said.
The proposed Primrose Business Park, which is located at the intersection of Highway 10 South and Highway 89, has been part of the Township’s Official Plan (which the province mandates) for years. Now, the establishment of the Business Park is part of the Strategic Plan, too.
Mills said the Plan also includes initiatives intended to get people more involved in the Township by encouraging them to join committees and volunteer for local events.
“Community spirit has been lost over the years,” said Mills. “Sometimes new people move in and they don’t get to know the older people. We need to get people aware of what’s going on and get them out.”
He would particularly like to see greater participation from area youth. To that end, the Strategic Plan will hire a Recreational Coordinator or appoint a member of the community to coordinate recreational activities in the Township.
“We want to get youth involved,” said Mills, adding that he would like to see a 15- or 16-year-old on the Recreational Committee so Council could hear their perspective.
The new Strategic Plan is the result of Mayor Paul Mills’s promise to create one during his 2010 election campaign.
Members of the public can read the Strategic Plan at www.mulmurtownship.ca, and join a mailing list to find out about issues in the area.