The integrated community sustainability plan (ICSP) for
four Pictou County municipalities — towns of New
Glasgow, Pictou and Westville and the rural Municipality
— is based on community ideas and community actions.
Education and preliminary public consultation began with
meetings and surveys. Councils wanted to know which
issues were most important to residents, so people were
asked to prioritize nearly 20 environmental, economic,
social and cultural issues.
From this 232-survey
sample, six public forums were held to more fully
examine priority issues, seek direction on actions,
encourage collaboration and build community capacity.
More than 180 people attended the forums, and another 50
attended a visioning workshop, so active public
participation in the process was more than 460, or about
one per cent of the county’s population.
As a
result of the forums, four key overarching strategies
were developed that can be applied at the county level
and help guide the county into the future. Individual
municipal plans should reflect and incorporate these
broad strategies...