PICKERING LOOKS TO A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE Pickering, Ontario (February 13, 2006) - The City of Pickering wants to become a leader in sustainable community development and has launched a bold plan to put it on this path for the future. The plan calls for sustainability to be the benchmark in all planning and development activity. It aims to engage residents and businesses, seek their views and opinions, and involve everyone in this community-wide initiative. "We want everyone to participate in building the kind of community that will be envied across Ontario," said Regional Councillor and Benchmarking Sustainability Chair Maurice Brenner. "The City has a long history of protecting and enhancing its economic, social and environmental resources, and I know our residents will get behind this effort to ensure that Pickering is the best place in which to live, work and play - both for this and future generations." For example, the City will look at
enhancing programs for environmental education, improving air
quality, adopting sustainable neighbourhood planning practices,
exploring energy reduction measures, and improving safety through
programs such as Communities Against Violence Everywhere (CAVE). There will be three evening community meetings at 7:00 pm for residents to have their say on Pickering's sustainable future:
Council is also involving its younger citizens in a Youth Forum to be held in April 2006, and details will be announced shortly. The City is also inviting its residents to go online at sustainablepickering.com and participate in cyberspace. Visitors can also link to the new site via cityofpickering.com. The site will become the comprehensive resource for sustainability, what it means to Pickering and how its neighbourhoods are becoming more sustainable through new and innovative projects. Web surfers are also encouraged to leave their comments through the online feedback form. "The progress we are making is the culmination of more than a decade of work that began with our Official Plan Review in 1994, followed by our Healthy Communities initiative in 1998, then by joining the Greater Toronto Area Clean Air Council in 2002, and most recently with our Pickering Growth Management Study in 2003," said Mayor Dave Ryan. "Through the City's Business Advisory Council, we are encouraging Pickering's premier businesses and organizations to follow our lead by incorporating sustainability strategies into their planning and operations." "Our Board supports this business planning model. We wish to work with the City as it establishes benchmarks and best practices in the critical areas of economic, social and environmental development in this City", said Tracy Paterson, President of the Ajax-Pickering Board of Trade. In September 2005, Council struck a committee made up of Councillors Maurice Brenner, Rick Johnson and Doug Dickerson, Mayor Dave Ryan and City staff to pull all the City's planning activities together under one cohesive theme. Once the group started to develop a process for sustainability, it soon realized that the benchmarking exercise needed to be broadened to the context of all the City's activities. This important work has produced several tangible results including an anti-idling by-law, bringing hybrid vehicle technology to the City's fleet vehicles, and energy reduction and environmental practices that Pickering citizens can do everyday at home. - 30 - As the gateway city to the east GTA, Pickering (population 94,000) is strategically located between Toronto and Durham Region. Pickering is an affluent community that is steeped in history, natural beauty and small town charm with all the amenities and services that a big city has to offer. The City of Pickering is considered a municipal leader in fiscal management, service delivery and the environment, and offers a wealth of sports, leisure and recreation opportunities for its residents. For more information:
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