Rural Summit II update

Approximately 200 residents, City staff and rural councilors participated in Rural Summit II to discuss rural issues and find solutions to improve services to Ottawa’s rural communities.

Prior to the Summit, community consultations were held in each rural ward resulting in over 700 documented issues and suggestions. The Rural Summit Steering Committee, a community-led working group, undertook the task of reviewing the consultation feedback and putting the information into four main categories that would form the agenda for Rural Summit II. Comments related to planning and development, including water and wastewater infrastructure, were forwarded to the Rural Settlement Strategy team. A parallel undertaking to Rural Summit II, this strategy will reflect the contributions of Ottawa’s rural community and will recommend changes to the City’s Official Plan.

The categories

Governance: Including localized decision making; localized access to community facilities; and communications
Rural Services: Such as Para Transpo; fire services; social services; and libraries
Infrastructure: Such as roads; ditches; telecommunications; and energy infrastructure
Bylaws, Permits and Processes: Including burn permits; forestry practices; and building permits.

Working Groups, composed of residents who had volunteered their services during the community consultations, were then formed for each of the four categories. These groups reviewed the comments from the community consultations and put forward "Options for Solutions" to address the concerns of rural residents.

During the Summit, participants could attend three facilitated sessions. At these sessions, they reviewed the Options for Solutions developed by their fellow residents in the Working Groups and individually voted on their priorities for action. The solutions and comments provided will allow the Rural Affairs Office to determine the most pressing issues affecting residents of rural Ottawa.

Refer to the vote results as identified by Rural Summit II participants:

Governance: http://ottawa.ca/residents/rural_connections/rural_summit_02/event/governance_en.html
Rural Services: http://ottawa.ca/residents/rural_connections/rural_summit_02/event/services_en.html
Infrastructure: http://ottawa.ca/residents/rural_connections/rural_summit_02/event/infrastructure_en.html
Bylaws, Permits and Processes: http://ottawa.ca/residents/rural_connections/rural_summit_02/event/bylaws_en.html

"Parking Lot" issues:

Parking Lot issues are additional issues and comments from participants attending the Rural Summit II.

During the Rural Summit, the “Parking Lot” process was used to ensure that these important off-topic issues were captured and that the facilitated discussion groups remained focused on the issues and solutions brought forward by the rural residents who volunteered on the pre-summit working groups.

http://ottawa.ca/residents/rural_connections/rural_summit_02/event/parking_lot/index_en.html

Participants Feedback:

Feedback form results - comments for Rural Summit II.

http://ottawa.ca/residents/rural_connections/rural_summit_02/event/feedback_en.html