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Province may appoint new planning authority to oversee development in Winnipeg and area
Manitoba may appoint a new planning authority to oversee development in Winnipeg and its neighbouring municipalities — but still leave some planning powers in the hands of the city.Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister says regional planning is fragmented in the Winnipeg area. (Tyson Koschik/CBC)Manitoba may appoint a new planning authority to oversee development in Winnipeg and its…
Manitoba may appoint a new planning authority to oversee development in Winnipeg and its neighbouring municipalities — but still leave some planning powers in the hands of the city.
Manitoba may appoint a new planning authority to oversee development in Winnipeg and its neighbouring municipalities — but still leave some planning powers in the hands of the city.
The Winnipeg Metropolitan Region, a board made up of representatives of the city and 17 surrounding municipalities, unveiled a report Thursday that recommended the province appoint a metro-area regional planning authority “to ensure the tenets of a regional growth management and servicing plan are enforced.”
The report, authored by Edmonton consultant Robert Murray, follows the spring release of a Progressive Conservative government report that described the City of Winnipeg's planning, property and development department as dysfunctional.
Premier Brian Pallister immediately endorsed the idea of a regional planning authority, telling an audience of political leaders, planners and developers at the release of the report that existing planning practices are driving business away from Manitoba.
“We have a fragmented planning process,” Pallister said after the report was released at the Metropolitan Theatre over the lunch hour Thursday.
Winnipeg's mayor, several city councillors and representatives from neighbouring municipalities were in attendance.
Pallister said a new planning authority is not a step toward allowing Winnipeg to swallow up its neighbours, the way the city did in 1972, when 11 other municipalities merged with the city.
“These actions are not about amalgamation,” the premier said.
Addressing the same audience, consultant Murray said the city and its neighbours must speed up the way it approves developments, or see businesses run away to other provinces or regions.
“Regional planning processes must be depoliticized,” he said. “There is no better time than now. The economy will not wait for you.
“Silos and fiefdoms will not serve you in the long run.”
Murray said the new planning authority would not replace all existing city planning functions. It would only handle plans that would affect transportation, development or servicing for the whole area.
In his report, he suggested municipalities may be wary of the new planning authority.
“Many stakeholders voice a fear of losing autonomy due to provincial interference in local planning processes or potential municipal amalgamation,” he wrote.
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