Oxford County's draft community sustainability plan to appear before council for approval
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Oxford County's draft community sustainability plan focuses on three categories: Community, economy and the environment.
The plan will appear before county council at its Wednesday meeting, where councillors will decide whether or not to endorse the draft and share with area municipalities for review and comment.
Each category in the plan breaks down what the county can do to achieve sustainability throughout Oxford, with a vision of a vibrant, prosperous and responsible community for all residents.
In the category of community, the county hopes to provide high-quality accessible health care, social services, support programs and housing that will meet the needs of all citizens.
According to the sustainability plan, the county will do this by creating partnerships to encourage the private sector to invest in affordable housing, as well as fostering collaboration among citizens, community partners and all levels of government to advance preventative health through active living. The county will also encourage infill development on existing lots, which could include mixed-use projects or small homes, secondary homes and in home suites.
The county also hopes to develop an accessible intercommunity transportation option to reduce reliance on personal automobile ownership.
Oxford hopes to accomplish this by providing cost-efficient and frequent transportation options connecting all of Oxford, as well as providing transportation to hubs outside of the county. In addition, the county would provide more information regarding real-time transportation on site, online and in transportation guidebooks, highlighting routes, connections and timetables.
The document also notes the intent to develop a food security plan to support food affordability and accessibility of food to all of the county's population. Oxford will also promote backyard and community gardens, as well as community food hubs through partnerships with community groups and schools.
Ensuring access to education for all ages is another big initiative for the county. While the University of Ottawa will not be coming to Woodstock, the county will still work to develop a university campus in Oxford.
According to the plan, there will also be an expansion of opportunities for post-secondary programs that will include self-directed learning opportunities, co-op programs, skilled trade programs and employment training programs, as well as loans and grants for students.
Oxford also hopes to ensure high-speed/high-capacity broadband Internet will be available throughout the county while providing access to collaborative spaces and services for people who are participating in online studies and support self-directed learning.
Other points mentioned in the category of community include supporting volunteerism, encouraging engagement in decisions that affect the public good, and promoting arts, recreation and culture in Oxford.
Moving on to Oxford's economy, the county is looking to build a thriving and vibrant local economy through enhancing collaboration between local and regional economic development offices and agencies.
The county also intends to develop a way to enhance support of local business expansion and retention, support companies that process Oxford-based agricultural products and amend zoning to encourage on-farm processing. It also wants to promote emerging employment opportunities for youth, and encourage high-tech manufacturing in Oxford.
Oxford also intends to cultivate entrepreneurship throughout Oxford by improving mentorship programs for new entrepreneurs, and providing incentive programs to support equity and diversity.
Production and consumption of locally produced food and products will also be encouraged, with a goal to increase the quantity of local food consumed and purchased by 25% by 2020, and 50% by 2030 by promoting local farmers' markets to showcase Oxford farmers and local products. The county also wants to provide incentives to encourage local restaurants and grocery stores to use and sell local products.
Oxford also wants to grow a sustainable economy, according to its plan, with a target of having the highest percentage of sustainable jobs in the province by 2020.
It hopes to do this by developing a job strategy that stimulates the sustainable economy, as well as developing incentives to support ecological farming approaches or techniques while ensuring appropriate access to community employment services across the county.
In addition, the county will support local business through procurement policies and full-cost accounting through government and public-sector organizations, encourage green entrepreneurship through incentives, and organize job fairs in each community to promote existing online employment resources.
Finally, there is Oxford County's sustainability plan for the environment, which hopes to be recognized as a leader in environmental action.
The county hopes to protect and restore the local ecosystem, with a goal of planting 10,000 native species of trees per year. Oxford intends to develop a green infrastructure plan that includes the tree planting strategy, as well as creating a biodiversity plan to preserve and enhance biodiversity, with a focus on native species, in Oxford.
The county will also encourage sustainable agricultural practices, develop a plan that encourages restoration of abandoned pits, quarries and brownfield sites, and create a region-wide plan for adaptation to climate change.
Oxford County will also shift from using fossil fuels and enhance low carbon transportation, with a goal of being 100% renewable by 2050.
According to the plan, this will be achieved through a number of initiatives, including encouraging local electric utilities to use renewable electricity through renewable energy (solar) lease programs, and developing a plan to ensure Oxford is carbon-positive by 2050.
The county will also evaluate the impact of new developments on greenhouse gas emissions, develop funding initiatives to stimulate energy and demonstration projects, and advocate for building code revisions to reduce fossil fuel consumption through green construction retrofits.
Oxford County also wants to achieve zero waste in the county, with a goal of reducing the total waste disposed per capita by 40% by 2020 and 60% by 2030, with a target of achieving the highest total waste diversion rate in Ontario by 2020.
According to the plan, this will be achieved by developing a waste reduction and diversion strategy to ensure the county's waste management site can meet Oxford's total landfill disposal needs, as well as developing a composting strategy that will divert 100% of organics from landfills.
It will also actively investigate the potential for waste-to-energy projects, advocate for sustainable packaging reform in Ontario and prohibit the importation of contaminated excess soils.
The plan also notes the county wants to ensure long-term protection of all source water, by developing a countywide water management strategy meant to protect all source water.
The county will also enhance water efficiency programs, develop regulations for sustainable water use and prevent the importation of sewage from outside of Oxford. It will also encourage river and stream bank soil erosion protection and water quality protection from manure and other chemical products, and develop water metering throughout the county.
County council initiated the development of a countywide plan in March of last year, and using public input, the steering committee developed a draft plan comprising six goals, 15 objectives and 70 actions.