Right in the centre - Cooperation is the key
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- Published on Thursday, November 3, 2016
By Ken Waddell
Neepawa Banner/Neepawa Press
The Neepawa Area Planning District is re-jigging its development plan. Re-jigging the plan is complicated by the fact that North Cypress-Langford is no longer part of the district and the rejigged plan is years overdue (as are most things in governments at any level).
The plan sets out some broad guidelines about what is allowed to be built and what is not allowed in certain areas. Over and above the development plan, there is a layer of zoning plans and by-laws. It’s complicated and makes it difficult for any sane person to want to go ahead with developing land for industry or housing. Re-arranging the development plan is a painful process.
It’s also complicated in rural areas, as there is always the tension between setting up rural residential and keeping the agricultural base intact. Often, there’s a conflict within the mind of an individual farm owner. Do they keep the farming aspect of a piece of land or do they sub-divide and make a few bucks in the process. Once land goes from farm to residential, even a small corner of the quarter, it will likely never be farmed again. Worse yet, the new resident may well object to having farm noises and smells around them.
The NAPD situation is further complicated by the fact that the former RM of Langford joined with North Cypress a couple of years back. Langford used to be an active participant in the NAPD, but no more. Any development that may involve bordering properties will have to be coordinated by two planning districts, two boards and perhaps two conflicting agendas.
The bigger elephant in the room is that the majority of people don’t realize that what may appear to be “Neepawa” is actually RM of North-Cypress-Langford (NC-L) land. Lake Irwin is not in the Town of Neepawa. The land north of Hwy 16 and west of Nick’s Repair is not in Neepawa. It is NC-L land. Further complicating the process is that the section of land (around 600 acres) known as the airport is actually owned by the Town of Neepawa. The Town of Neepawa pays taxes on that large chunk of land to NC-L and has to abide by planning district rules that they have no say about. At best, it is silly, at worst, it is difficult.
There seemed to be no appetite over the years for amalgamation. Long before the former NDP government mandated amalgamation of municipalities under 1,000 people, there was no real appetite for amalgamation. After the ill-planned NDP decree, there was less, as people don’t appreciate being forced into anything against their will.
For decades, there has been strong co-operation between the RM of Langford and their neighbours. Now it’s a bit more difficult, but it will come and it has to come about. The geographic, economic and community realities are overwhelming. Neepawa is the main service centre for the area. From jobs to groceries, from recreation to churches, the Town of Neepawa is home to many things we all need. Even if we didn’t like each other, we would all have to work together anyway.
It is in that last phrase that some of the problem lies. Personalities have gotten in the way over the years. I have personally heard local leaders say some very nasty things about other leaders. It is sad really. The best route for success for our area is to either find some new politicians or for some of the existing ones to adopt a new attitude. Having moved out of local politics over two years ago, I can be blamed for less and less of the problems that exist today in the area.
Whenever a group gets together to discuss planning, as they did last week in Neepawa, the elephant in the room always comes to, “Who pays for what?” The towns don’t want to pay for services to rural areas and vice-versa. Most people understand that. What is less understood is that town provided and paid for services are likely used by everyone. A municipal contribution needs to be made or the service has to be provided on a cost of service basis.
As to the long standing fear that an amalgamated area might cause degradation of rural services, lets look at it this way. As a town business man I have to have the rural roads in good shape. Several of my employees live 15 or more miles from town. You can bet your life that I want them to get to town and home again safely.
For Neepawa and for all rural areas, we are a community and it’s long past time when we can be so divided. There has been cooperation and there needs to be a lot more.
