The South Saskatchewan Regional Advisory Council (SSRAC) has postponed providing advice until December on how government might best meet the land-use needs of a growing population, competing land use and conservation in southern Alberta.
The SSRAC had originally been tasked to provide advice early this summer on how to integrate the region into the province’s broader Land-use Framework.
Local SSRAC representative and M.D. of Taber Coun. Greg Sekura explained the reasoning for the delay.
“We just found that it’s pretty deep and intense, and that we needed a few more months to complete it properly. It’s coming along fine, so we should have it wrapped up by December. We had a ministerial order to extend our time on it.”
Progress thus far has identified key areas of concern, added Sekura.
“We’ve pretty much identified all the concerns that need to be dealt with, and formatted it, and now we’re going through and making some solid decisions. At this point we haven’t really completed any phase of it, but we’re very close, and it’s just a matter, right now, of mostly language and formalities. We’re rolling pretty good now.”
The council’s advice will reflect a regional population expected to expand by two million by 2076, as well as focusing on issues surrounding improving water efficiency and productivity by a minimum of 30 per cent.
Other council considerations include objectives for successful agriculture, energy, forestry, recreation and tourism sectors, options for better protecting water sources and watershed integrity, ways to reduce the human footprint and reduce fragmentation of valued landscapes, locations for recreation and tourism lands, and lands that could meet the criteria for conservation while considering development implications.
Developing a framework of their own was a daunting task in itself, according to Sekura. But the time spent could help subsequent regions develop their own advice more quickly.
“We probably lost two or three months because this is a new process, and we spent a lot of time trying to develop an efficient process. Once we’ve got this down, so that the next RAC, in a different area, if they adopt this, they’ll probably be able to do it in less time. That was kind of a hang-up that took us a little more time, is to really figure out how we wanted to lay this out.”
Council members have no specific areas of focus as members.
“Everybody on the council has a special area that they’re more experienced at, but everybody is going to diversify into the other areas as well. So everybody participates in every area. But of course, I’m on there for my municipal experience, as well as my agricultural experience on the irrigation side.”
Currently, the SSRAC will be dissolved once it has developed and delivered its advice to the government, however Sekura indicated this might not be the final chapter of its involvement.
“We won’t (remain as a permanent body), unless the minister wants us to. It’s going to be reviewed periodically, every five years or so, and updated. It’s going to be a living document, because there’s no way we can predict what happens in the future. We’re trying to plan 50 years ahead. So every five years or so--that’s not determined, but it will be reviewed. How it’s reviewed I’m not sure, if they gather the council back together or a new council. And it can be amended before if necessary.”
Compensatory incentives in regards to privately owned land issues is a step in the right direction for Sekura.
“We are trying to be as fair and equitable as possible, as far as compensation. I think that right now, it looks like it’s going to be a possibility. I’m pretty sure that this is the way it will work, is that any action that we would like is going to be through compensation incentives, so that on private land, nobody will be mandating that that landowner does anything. But there will be incentives out there to steer them in that direction.”
Sekura is in full support of the province moving towards long-term planning, which creates spin-off benefits at the municipal level.
“At first I wasn’t sure what this was all about, and I think now that I’ve been in it for a awhile, I think the province is doing exactly the right thing, planning into the future. And it’s not only going to help the oil industry and forestry know what’s happening in the future as far as planning, but municipally as well. When we understand what the plans are for the province in the future, we can do our planning around those plans in the future, so they won’t conflict at some point in time. As well as I think the biggest advantage here is the cross ministries that are involved. Everybody will be communicating with everybody on what their plans are in the future. So everything will mend together, and of course pay off in efficiency and money saved.”
The South Saskatchewan Region is home to 45 per cent of Alberta’s population and contains the province’s largest city, Calgary.