On Saturday, the City of Winnipeg launched Our Winnipeg, a planning process that will provide an opportunity for all Winnipeggers to express their vision of the way the city can grow and sustain its unique character over the next 25 years.
A website was also launched at SpeakUpWinnipeg.com, which includes a blog to engage the involvement of citizens in the planning process to make Winnipeg a better place.
There will be three major avenues for public participation:
- 24/7 throughout the entire planning process through the web site, SpeakUpWinnipeg.com, which includes blogs by civic leaders, citizens, and planners, providing commentary on all aspects of the Plan’s development;
- opportunities to contribute to, and respond to, reports that reflect what the City has heard and how comments from the public are affecting the development of the Plan;
- formal face-to-face public forums and events.
Speak Up Winnipeg will also include meetings and roundtable discussions with groups that want to contribute.
What is Our Winnipeg?
Our Winnipeg is the opportunity for Winnipeggers to express their vision for our city as it grows over the next 25 years. It will provide the roadmap for the city’s leaders and citizens to follow as they work to make this vision a reality.
Why do we need this Plan?
Our Winnipeg will provide a policy framework for long-term decision making. The new Plan will provide long-term certainty for residents, businesses, and governments about how decisions will be made.
The idea was made public on Saturday at Mayor Sam Katz’s Symposium on Sustainable Development, in which a fellow Winnipeg blogger was present and tweeted during the event. All of this information sounds promising and bright, but as the Frog said, “A whiz bang website and a bunch of forums, roundtables and symposia will only get you so far.”
— With files from a news release
Image credit: SpeakUpWinnipeg.com/composite
