Town adopts first stand-alone Social Master Plan

The 2016 Sylvan Lake Community Social Master Plan has been completed on schedule and was adopted by Council for implementation over the course of the next three years.

This is the first stand-alone social master plan for the town of Sylvan Lake with the document proposing a number of pro-active strategies to address the quality of life of residents.

The plan was based on the findings of the 2015 Social Needs Assessment, community focus groups; Social Master Plan Sub-Committees (Housing, income and Employment; Health andWellness; Transportation; Community Engagement and Safety) and a community open house.

Jane Somerville of Nichols Applied Management stated eight factors were deemed most important to the Town of Sylvan Lake during the creation of the plan - presented to Town Council on the evening of June 27.

She stated residents needed the following: have a sense of purpose, enjoy their natural surroundings, are able to meeting their basic needs, have supports and services to meet their mental health needs, have supports and services to meet their physical needs, are engaged positively in their community, have strong healthy relationships and feel safe in their community.

The plan delves into a number of longer-term goals to meet over the next three years ranging from housing, income and employment to health and wellness as well as transportation and also includes community safety and engagement.

“There is quite a bit of enthusiasm for the plan from those who have been involved with the plan in the sub-committees,” explained Somerville to Council. “The plan also includes a plan on monitoring and evaluation and a section on the collaboration that will be required for moving forward with the implementation of the plan.

“This isn’t a Town of Sylvan Lake plan, this is a plan for the community that will be implemented by the community.”

Mayor Sean McIntyre added a ‘monumental amount of work’ has led to the day where a Social Master Plan was in place but that he was proud to see it come to fruition.

“First of all through our Social Needs Assessment then through the creation of the Plan itself,” said McIntyre on the amount of work that led them to where they were today. “Probably can expect hundreds of hours of FCSS staff time, the community services standing committee, the sub committees and I love the idea.

“I think the amount of work really does make it a plan by the community for the community.”

Within each of the sub-sections in the Social Master Plan there are identified goals, what is wished to be accomplished in the next three years and planned actions on how to get there.

Over the course of the coming weeks, the Sylvan Lake News hopes to examine each of the sub-sections within the Social Master Plan and provide more details as per what citizens can expect to see over the next three years.

editor@sylvanlakenews.com