Collingwood Deputy Mayor hopes for change in 2015

Brian Saunderson is hoping council opts for a different direction for the Town of Collingwood in 2015.

After nearly two years of advocating for change away from the council table through the Better Together Collingwood initiative, Saunderson was elected in with 61 per cent of the vote on Oct. 27.

Now elected, Saunderson is hoping council kick starts the strategic planning process.

“It is going to be the road map for the next four years and beyond,” he said.

“Once we have our strategic plan done, we have to distill that down into achievable but important priorities.”

The municipality is set to send out a request for proposal to hire a consultant to lead this process. Saunderson is hopeful an advisory committee will assist through this process.

Saunderson believes the public has to be involved in the planning process but also that council has to weigh the goals of the community with the current financial situation.

“It’s going to be looking at the means of the town to undertake certain projects,” he said.

“However this process shakes down and what we hear the community, it all has to be measured.”

Saunderson believes the waterfront is a good focal point for upcoming discussions.

“What I’m excited about is starting the process of discussion, engagement and planning,” he said.  “Getting these discussions in motion and being able to look at what can the waterfront be. I think the Harbourlands is the most obvious and critical piece in my opinion.”

He said the key will be to balance the needs of a large number of user groups.

“With our financial situation we are going to be looking at making plans and figuring out how to do them in staged affordable pieces,” he said.  “My primary promise to the public is to make sure there is proper engagement and decisions are made in a joint effort. It’s a team effort.”