Plan makes room for 15,000 jobs by 2016

Plan makes room for 15,000 jobs by 2016

East Gwillimbury

Amanda Persico, Staff Writer

How do you plan during these uncertain economic times?

At a council workshop this week, Dan Stone, the town’s manager of policy planning, presented the goals behind the different sections of the ongoing Official Plan process.

Those goals included a 2:1 ratio between residents and jobs in town for the next 20 years.

The town expects to have about 15,000 jobs by 2016 and about 38,000 residents, as outlined by regional and provincial growth plans. That’s up from the current 7,300 jobs and 22,300 residents.

“The region’s projections give us the jobs for our goal,” Mr. Stone said. 

With looming economic uncertainty, however, planning for the high times is a struggle, Councillor Jack Hauseman said.

“We’re approving a good-time plan when we are entering the worst time since the Depression,” he said. “We don’t want the pressures to build without jobs to come along.”

But putting a plan in place will create sustainable policies now and for the future, Mayor James Young said. 

“The success of the plan is how it rolls through these times,” he said. “Not just for the good times, but for all times. ”

Now, it’s all a guessing game, Councillor Virginia Hackson said.

“No one has a crystal ball,” she said. “I’m not willing to amend the Official Plan in haste. We want the plan to stay long and hard.”

The purpose of the plan is to enshrine the town’s core values, Mr. Young argued. Values included in the report are environmental, economic and social sustainability, growth and development, infrastructure and financial planning. 

Setting a goal will act as a measure for future projects, said Councillor Marlene Johnston, chairperson of the town’s development and legal services committee.

“That will help us make our targets,” she said, “whether or not we take that particular project,”

For more than two years, the town has worked with consultants Examining manners of growth and growth management as part of the provincial Places to Grow Act. The official plan is expected to be presented to council in April.

For more information on East Gwillimbury’s official plan, visit www.eastgwillimbury.ca

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