Walking out Three-day teachers’ strike set to start Monday across B.C. PAGE 7 Gardens grow Schools, community groups play role in food security. PAGE 11 Tipple tasting Annual whisky-tasting fundraiser supports dance society. PAGE 3
One final serving PAGE 20
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SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 2012
City’s future in your hands Consultation process launches to listen to residents and develop a community vision BY TOBY GORMAN THE NEWS BULLETIN
Nanaimo’s strategic planning process is counting on citizens to provide diverse perspectives and ideas to shape the city’s future. Led by the Strategic Planning Steering Committee that includes Couns. Jim Kipp, Diana Johnstone and Ted Greves, and partnered with Rethink West, a Ladysmith firm that specializes in communication strategies, the process will include a number of workshops to pin down the direction residents think council should take Nanaimo. “We’ve never done a strategic plan and the point of this is to get us to focus on where we’re headed,” said Kipp, chairman of the committee. “We try to extrapolate from the community what it wants by going out and meeting with residents and stakeholders and hopefully come out of it with four or five strategic directions that we can move in.” Council approved hiring Rethink West in January at a
cost of about $100,000, plus an additional $21,400 for facility rentals to host workshops. “Suggestions might be water as an important issue – it’s important to me,” said Kipp. “Others may feel shelter is important. The idea is to create a shared community vision and follow that vision.” The strategy will employ both long-term visions and short-term priorities. “The process has been designed to listen carefully to the citizens of Nanaimo,” said Mayor John Ruttan. “We want to hear about their aspirations and what they think our priorities should be for moving Nanaimo forward, especially during this council’s term.” The title of the initiative is ‘Your Voice, Our Nanaimo’. Attempts from more specialized interests, including the chamber of commerce’s Sustainable Cities initiative as well as Vision Nanaimo’s recent Nanaimo Community Vision Rally, suggest a growing desire from the public to move Nanaimo in a unified and progressive direction, Kipp said. “There are lots of good ideas out there, lots of strong initiatives,” he said. “We want to try to have everybody moving in the same direction.” By establishing a common focus, Kipp added, council can set budget priorities reflecting community desires. ◆ See ‘CONSULTATION’ /6
VOL. 23, NO. 132
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SNEAK PREVIEW
Six months to go until ER opening T at NRGH
CHRIS BUSH/THE NEWS BULLETIN
A light well illuminates the unfinished interior of the ambulatory ward of the new emergency department at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital. Studies indicate natural light speeds healing, improves a person’s sense of well-being and keeps workers more alert, productive and less likely to make errors. The wells also help lower electricity costs.
BY JENN McGARRIGLE THE NEWS BULLETIN
he massive fir beams in the entranceway are in place and painters are hard at work inside the new, state-of-the-art emergency department at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital. In about 18 months, the $36.9-million project went from a hole in the ground to a two-storey building that now resembles the artists’ renderings – on the outside. ◆ See ‘PROJECT’ /5
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