Brampton’s Official Plan Moves to Next Stage

Brampton planners will spend the summer incorporating public input and placing the finishing touches on the new Official Plan that will guide the City for the next 20 to 30 years.

“The draft Official Plan before Brampton City Council this fall will be the product of 18 months of public consultation, leading-edge research and a clear understanding of the need for sustainable growth in Brampton,” said John Corbett, Commissioner of Planning, Design and Development with the City of Brampton.

The City held a statutory public meeting on June 26, advertising extensively and featuring a three-hour open house prior to the 7:30 p.m. start time. Participants from the community asked the City to focus on downtown growth, on an increase in library services and complimented the City on making significant progress in its environmental policy as part of the draft Official Plan to promote sustainable planning.

The draft Official Plan strengthens Brampton’s commitment to growth management and an integrated approach to transportation and land use planning that will help to create a compact, complete and transit-oriented community, according to City planners. Brampton is expected to grow from its current population of 434,000 people to nearly 700,000 people in 2031.

The first draft of Brampton’s new Official Plan was released for public review on April 24 by City Council, and is available on-line at www.brampton.ca, and at City Hall, 2 Wellington St. W., Clerk’s Office, first floor; or Planning, Design and Development Department, third floor. The draft plan is available for review as a reference document at each branch of the Brampton Public Library.

• Is the plan which guides Brampton’s land use strategy, including private, public and institutional lands
• Incorporates a new set of long-term population and employment growth forecasts, as approved by City Council last year
• Establishes retail policies to ensure they respond to market trends
• Updates the office strategy to reflect more realistic leasing and development opportunities and to match designated office land with the needs of busier establishments
• Includes the most up-to-date environmental mapping available, reinforces the City’s ecosystem approach to environmental planning, and makes sure the City’s environmental policies conform to current best practices, including those of the Conservation Authorities and Regional and Provincial government
• Proposes a refined park system and more connected open space system
• Updates the urban design policies to both conform with the City adopted Development Design Guidelines and other policies, and to demonstrate the City’s commitment to taking a leadership role in promoting superior urban design
• Updates the cultural heritage policies to strengthen protection of heritage resources enabled by the latest Provincial, Regional and City policies and initiatives, including the Ontario Heritage Act
• Includes North West Brampton as part of the Urban Development Area as approved by City Council; and
• Updates the general format of the Official Plan to make it more reader-friendly.

For more information, or to order the draft Official Plan on CD or in print, for a fee, please visit www.brampton.ca, e-mail ourfuture@brampton.ca, or

call 905-874-2050.