Below is the “red-lined” version of the updated Official Plan. 

Previously we posted the Draft Official Plan Amendment which is available in the below drop down menu. The “red-lined” version of the updated Official Plan document puts the changes into the text of the plan to make it easier for the reader and non-experts to interpret the changes.  

This document is the culmination of a couple of years of work with staff and our excellent consultant team at NPG. Although interrupted by COVID earlier in the process, we have included an especially intensive effort for citizen engagement over the past eight months, far outpacing the typical processes municipalities take in terms of citizen and stakeholder engagement. This included: over 20 meetings and workshops open to the public for their participation; multiple meetings with each of Council’s Advisory Committees and BIA; being supported by a team of volunteer “community connectors”;  working in collaboration with a team of masters students from Ryerson University; and, reviewing the hundreds of responses received to our online questionnaire. 

Click here to view the “Red-lined” version of the updated Official Plan

If you have any questions about the changes, please feel free to contact us. Contact information is listed at the bottom of this page.

A “redline” copy of the Official Plan Amendment has been developed and is available in the drop down menu above.  This redline has been generated as a more reader-friendly document of the proposed amendment to assist persons who are not familiar with the matrix format. The key components of the amendment are as follows:

1. The Amendment creates a 25-year community plan for growth and community development founded on the community structure in Meaford;

2. The Amendment creates opportunities for new housing through updated policies for housing and the provision of policies supporting
intensification, redevelopment, and additional dwelling units;

3. The Amendment confirms the importance of the commercial areas in the Meaford;

4. The Amendment reflects and incorporates feedback related to community growth, protection of agricultural land, supporting tourism
including agri-tourism, reinforcing the commitment to downtown Meaford, and supporting all ages-friendly community development;

5. The Amendment updates the forecasted population, employment and household growth for the planning horizon;

6. The Amendment addresses community feedback; and

7. The Amendment achieves the following to assist in administering the Plan:

    a. Flexibility in Application, Interpretation, and Updating of the Plan
    b. Enhanced readability and understanding of the Plan

This amendment has been prepared on the following basis:

1. Conformity to the Provincial Policy Statement (2020);

2. Feedback received at the Special Council Meeting held under Section 26 of the Planning Act (May 2021) from members of Council and residents of the Municipality of Meaford;

2. Updates to the Planning Act regarding various matters including additional dwelling units; parkland dedication; community benefit charges, and more;

4. Feedback received from community members and groups in the winter, spring, and summer of 2022;

5. Feedback received from Meaford Council’s Advisory Committees in the spring and summer of 2022;

Please note that a Public Meeting for this draft Official Plan Amendment will be held on September 19, 2022 at 5 p.m. at Meaford Hall, located at 12 Nelson Street East.

The Public Meeting is held by Council to receive comments on the Amendment. If a person wishes to make a deputation as part of the
Public Meeting they should contact the Municipality’s Deputy Clerk at deputyclerk@meaford.ca. Written comments can also be provided in
advance of the meeting to the Deputy Clerk.

As always, we ask that you be a helpful citizen and pass on this information to others that you know would be interested.  

• Draft Amendment No.XX Municipality of Meaford Official Plan 

• Notice of Circulation of Draft Official Plan Amendment No. XX – Request for Comments

• Draft Official Plan Schedule A Land Use

• Draft Official Plan Schedule A-1 Land Use

• Draft Official Plan Schedule B Environmental and Resource Features

• Draft Official Plan Schedule C Transportation

• Draft Official Plan Schedule C-1 Transportation

Your input is confirming that our existing Official Plan aligns with community wants. A lot of the information and themes shared in the survey responses and at the Community Chat meeting held on February 23, 2022 are already contained within the existing Official Plan. While there is still work to be done to make sure the Official Plan can address changing circumstances overtime and prepare for growth to 2046, your feedback has reaffirmed we are headed in the right direction. We will be taking your insights and adapting them into new policies, or amended the existing policies, so that the Official Plan better matches the desires and goals of the community.  

Thank you for providing your input! We received a great response from residents offering meaningful input on the Official Plan survey. In total there were 415 individual surveys that were submitted.

The responses provide an excellent picture of citizen’s insights to endorse the types of policies that should be in the Official Plan that will support good planning and development in the municipality. The amount of interest received on the Official Plan survey represents the incredible depth of citizen engagement that exists across the municipality. We invite you to have a read of the responses, so you have an understanding of the insights provided from fellow community citizens. 

All the responses, just as we received them, have been included in the link below. 

Below is a link to the Official Plan. Reading the Official Plan in combination with the survey responses can offer an additional understanding of how some responses that were identified in the survey are addressed in the existing Official Plan and the policy that is provided to achieve them. 

Existing Official Plan

Over the past weeks and months Municipal staff have been meeting with Council’s Advisory Committees on the Official Plan Update. At each of the initial discussion sessions of the Advisory Committees staff provided an overview of the Official Plan update process and purpose. Two months after the initial discussions, during which Committee members were asked to gather community insights, a second set of meetings were held with the Committees to receive their input. 

This slideshow provides a brief overview of the main points relating to potential changes to the Official Plan that were discussed at these second sessions with the Advisory Committees. 

The slideshow also includes examples of the kinds of policy updates being drafted that are based on the review of the existing document.  This review helped identify appropriate opportunities to amend policies to make them more effective and aligned with the insights shared by local citizens throughout the community consultation process.

This slideshow was shared at the recent public “Community Chat” event held on July 14, 2022 at Meaford Hall.

Click here to view the slideshow