Community Excellence Awards
Brookswood-Fernridge Community Plan (BFCP) – Public Engagement
Contributor: Langley (Township)
Year: 2018
Category: Governance
Short Description:
In 2016, Council directed staff to update the BFCP, a thirty year-old document for a highly polarized community.
Last Reviewed: April 25, 2019, 11:39 am
Detailed Description:
In 2016, Council directed staff to update the BFCP, a thirty year-old document for a highly polarized community. Some residents did not want more development to preserve the existing community character while others supported greenfield residential development. Based on this politically charged background, the project focused on ways to plan with minimal consensus. A public engagement program, which integrated recommendations of a Council-adopted Public Engagement Strategy, was designed for the project. With a “Go to the People” approach, engagement events resulted in
unprecedented levels of public participation. Many of these events were attended by 300 to 750 people.
As a result of the project, the Township of Langley built its internal capacity to engage large and small groups, leveraged its resources to manage issues and became an engagement-friendly and responsive community-serving institution. In the end, Council adopted the updated plan in October 2017.
