Official Community Plan

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OUR COLLECTIVE RESPONSIBILITY

Creating the plan for Courtenay’s future will be the easiest part in the achievement of our collective vision. Creating the plan is just the beginning. To implement the plan is quite a different matter. An OCP is a tool to navigate great challenges, opportunities, and changes before us: climate action, reconciliation, equity, and community well-being. The community process to create the OCP has identified where we want and need to go – our vision. As Courtenay’s compass, the OCP tells us what we need to do get there – our policies and actions. But a compass is only as good as how well it’s used. How far we get in achieving Courtenay’s vision will depend on how fully we use this Plan as a tool to navigate and manage change.

Collective commitment will fuel the implementation of the OCP. Commitment will be needed as time passes, as people move to and from Courtenay, as our elected leaders pass the torch, as one generation welcomes the next. Commitment will be needed when decisions are hard, especially when decisions are hard. In those moments, the OCP can be used to refocus our efforts and bring clarity to what at the core of Courtenay really matters: climate action, reconciliation, equity and community well-being. The OCP is a facilitative policy instrument. It provides both direction for the City of Courtenay as well as identifies where collaboration and support by other sectors are needed to achieve stated objectives. Mayor, Council and City staff, developers, community organizations, businesses, and already engaged residents are expected to use the OCP the most. However, there is a role and a need for literally everyone to engage with this Plan. The success of this Plan will hinge on residents and friends of Courtenay everywhere lending their hearts, minds, and efforts to climate action, reconciliation, equity, and our community’s well-being, even if it is for their first time. Especially if it is their first time.

City of Courtenay OCP Background Report PART A Foundations