MORE SENIORS HOUSING, CIVIC EVENTS, TOPICS OF DISCUSSION AT PUBLIC FORUM: Penhorn, Woodlawn communities voiced concerns at meeting last week

DARTMOUTH

JOANNE OOSTVEEN

The Dartmouth Cole Harbour Weekly News, Halifax News Net
December 4, 2008

An accessible boardwalk around Penhorn Lake and a mini bus that would travel around Woodlawn.

These are but two of the many ideas presented at the first Penhorn-Woodlawn Community Visioning Public Forum that was held at the Grace Baptist Church last week.

About 35 people attended the community-led initiative that gave residents the opportunity to think about what is possible for their community as a whole, 10, 15 or 20 years into the future.

Bill Zebedee is the chair of the eight-person community liaison group that is spearheading the initiative. He said he joined the group to meet his neighbours and to help the community become more aware of their role in the visioning process.

"The motto, 'Rekindle memories and help build new ones,' is a good one," he said. "We are working on finding out what are the priorities in the community."

Some priorities that were put on the wish list that night included more seniors housing, civic events to draw the community closer, keeping indoor shopping at local malls, a skateboard park for youth and increased police presence.

Zebedee said he and the rest of the community liaison group don't have the power to tell developers how to run their businesses, but they can make suggestions based on what the community wants. He said there are other things going on in the community that may have an impact on the outcome of this visioning process, such as the Alderney School and Woodlawn library reviews, the Penhorn Mall redevelopment and the Main Street vision and streetscape study.

"What I have been hearing is that there is a lot of interest in what is happening in our community," he said.

Kasia Tota, community developer for HRM Community Relations and Cultural Affairs, is working with VisionHRM.

She said community visioning is about an open dialogue and many ideas will come forward from meetings like the one held at Grace Baptist.

"However, these ideas will have to be examined in terms of options, priority and economic, social and environmental feasibility," she said. "It's important to acknowledge that this is a 20 year vision, so actions will have to be prioritized for short, medium and long term implementation."

Tota said that above all, this is an opportunity to build upon what is already happening in the community. "Our goal is to present the vision and action plan to regional council in June of next year," she said.

joanneoostveen@accesswave.ca

Residents of the Penhorn and Woodlawn communities can still provide their comments on the visioning process by going to www.halifax.ca/visionhrm.  A Facebook account has also been set up.