Economic development manager Amy Melmock talked with Lake Cowichan town council about Cowichan 2050.
“It’s not an easy concept for people to wrap their heads around. It’s not a regional growth strategy, but a way to get people talking collaboratively,” she said.
“One of notions we have is that the Cowichan region is going to change a great deal between now and 2050. We know that, for instance, climate change is going to be big thing. We already see that here in Lake Cowichan. But those hot summers that we’re having will continue and we may be in for more winters like we had last winter, with lots of precipitation in the form of snow or rain.
“There is an estimate that the population of the region will grow by about 25,000 people, and we know that will have an impact on infrastructure and the available land base, and it will have an impact on water resources as well. These are not unfamiliar patterns for the people around this table. And, what will not be a surprise for the people around this table, we know that we will begin to see a growing voice and a growing sophistication from our First Nations communities and the desire to have them come to the table and be partners in economic development.
“So, how do we approach change? What are the shared values that we have and how can we re-align them? All of these things surface up through community plans, through strategic plans. All of these values have to inform what we want to do.
“We went back to a vision statement that Social Planning Cowichan made that still seemed relevant: the people of the Cowichan region work together to collectively take responsibility for a caring, safe, prosperous, diverse, ecologically sound community, and to ensure opportunities for current and future generations. It seems pretty salient today.”
Cowichan 2050 recognizes that people will come in and out of the discussions: councils, community groups, First Nations: all will have different spheres of influence and all will bring valuable ideas to the table, Melmock said, concluding, “Essentially, it’s a relationship process. But what is clear is the need for the process itself.”
Melmock said it’s really important that elected officials, community stakeholders, and First Nations are all actively involved in looking towards the future.
Coun. Tim McGonigle said he hopes the upcoming talks will be a stepping stone towards an ongoing process.
Melmock said there must be “capacity as a region to encompass growth” but that it was also important to remember that “we have a lot of competition for our land” in future as the Cowichan Valley becomes more and more of a target for development.
“We want all these strategies to lead towards a level playing field,” she said.
Mayor Ross Forrest said he wants to see broader thinking, and more effort put into celebrating local successes so everyone in the region is aware of them, “because we all benefit from them all.”
