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New Official Plan Banner

New Official Plan

HomeCounty GovernmentNew Official Plan
 
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 Looking for the draft version of the New Official Plan? Find out more information here. #ASimplyGrandPlan

The draft version of the new Official Plan for the County of Brant, A Simply Grand Plan, was presented to Council on July 29th and August 10th. These meetings officially begin a 3 month commenting period on the draft so that we can finalize the new Official Plan for approval by Council in January 2022. Commenting for this phase of the project formally closed on October 29th, 2021 after a 90-day review period.

 

  • Have additional comments on the project? Visit www.engagebrant.ca/TheNewOfficialPlan or contact staff at OfficialPlan@brant.ca.
  • Try the new interactive mapping tool! Explore the mapping that shows the proposed designations and submit comments to staff for specific properties. Visit www.brant.ca/NewOPMap and click the 'I want to..." bar at the top left to find the Official Plan Review Form to submit comment through the maps.
  • Take our short survey that includes the opportunity to submit general comments about growth and development in the County. Visit Engage Brant and sign in to get involved!
  • Looking for a summary? We've prepared one that talks about the proposed policies and the tools that will help us implement them once Council has approved our New Official Plan.
  • Have Questions? Visit www.brant.ca/AskOfficialPlan to submit questions or visit www.brant.ca/OfficialPlanQandA to read through some of the common questions received in the earlier phases of the project. 

 

Use the links below to explore the full draft policies and mapping for the New Official Plan. Interactive mapping of the new Land Use Designations will also be available in early October 2021 for easy review and commenting. Also included below are the draft of the Municipal Comprehensive Review as well as the requested changes by Council during the Public Meetings to endorse the draft Official Plan. 

 

Draft Official Plan - Full Text

Draft Table of Contents

Draft Section 1 - Introduction

Draft Section 2 - Strategic Directions

Draft Section 3 - Indigenous Engagement and Reconciliation

Draft Section 4 - Growth Management Strategy

Draft Section 5 - Building Healthy and Complete Communities

Draft Section 6 - Protecting What We Value

Draft Section 7 - How We Green

Draft Section 8 - Planning for Infrastructure

Draft Section 9 - Transportation and Mobility

Draft Section 10 - Economic Development and Prosperity

Draft Section 11 - The County Toolbox (Implementation and Administration Policies)

Draft Section 12 - Interpretation, Monitoring and Review

Draft Section 13 - Glossary

Draft Section 14 - Schedules

  • Schedule 1 - Growth Management
  • Schedule 2 - Designated Greenfield Areas and Excess Lands
  • Schedule 3 - Land Use Designations
  • Schedule 4 - Natural Heritage Systems
  • Schedule 5 - Natural Hazards and Development Constraint
  • Schedule 6 - Major Facilities and Human-made Hazards
  • Schedule 7 - Source Water Protection
  • Schedule 8 - Key Hydrologic Areas
  • Schedule 9 - Mineral Aggregates and Petroleum Resources
  • Schedule 10 - Active Transportation
  • Schedule 11 - Road Network
  • Schedule 12 - Cultural Heritage Areas

 

Draft Municipal Comprehensive Review

Council Directed Changes to the Draft Official Plan (Prior to endorsement and Provincial preliminary review)

A Simply Grand Plan - title image

The County of Brant is preparing a new Official Plan

As the County of Brant continues to change and grow, the time has come to develop a new Official Plan and we need your input! The decisions we make today will impact the future of our community. This plan belongs to all of us. 

Find our more information below on the process to create our new Official Plan and how to get involved! 

Recent Project Updates:

Did you miss the Public Meeting in December 2021? Find out more below!

Aerial Image with overlayed text that reads Phase 4 The Draft Version of the New Official Plan for the County of BrantThis meeting was held in two parts beginning on December 2nd and concluding on Decemeber 9th. A list of suggested revisions was provided with the agenda package as a result of input from the public and stakeholders (available at www.brant.ca/CouncilAgenda). This includes a summary of all the comments received, site-specific requests, errors and omissions, and suggested revisions to the draft document. The meeting provided an opportunity to hear public input, discussions, and any further feedback from interested stakeholders on making revisions to the draft version of the new Official Plan in advance of coming back to Council in early 2022 for approval. Below is a summary of how the two parts of the meeting were organized:

  • Thursday, December 2nd beginning at 6:00pm - This meeting consisted of a short staff presentation with the remainder of the meeting dedicated to delegations and public input on the New Official Plan. This meeting was held with ELECTRONIC PARTIPATION ONLY and can be watched by clicking the link above to the County's YouTube Channel.

  • Thursday, December 9th beginning at 6:00pm - An overview of all the feedback and information collected during the project was presented by staff, as well as an updated timeline for the remaining portions of the project. Further discussion was had on revisions to the draft New Official Plan. This meeting was held with ELECTRONIC PARTIPATION ONLY and can be watched by clicking the link above to the County's YouTube Channel.

Missed our Virtual Townhall Session on September 15th? 
Click here for more info! #ASimplyGrandPlan

Draft Official Plan - Virtual Townhall Event

On Wednesday September 15th beginning at 7:00pm, the Policy Planning Division hosted a virtual townhall session on Zoom to discuss the draft version of the County's New Official Plan. This event focused on how the Draft New Official Plan policies will affect residents in the County of Brant including rural and urban areas. Staff provided an overview of our new policies including Growth Management Strategy and the Draft Municipal Comprehensive Review and discussed the next steps for the New Official Plan, including an overview of timelines and important milestone for the project moving forward to January 2022. 

The event also provided an opportunity for staff to answer common questions, including question submitted to www.brant.ca/AskOP, OfficialPlan@brant.ca, and questions asked during the live event. 

  • Watch the recording of the session on the County's YouTube Channel by clicking this link or visiting www.brant.ca/YouTube
  • For a copy of the slideshow presented at the session, please click here or visit www.brant.ca/DraftOPSlides
  • Read the summary of the topics discussed at the event by clicking here or visiting www.brant.ca/DraftOPSummary
If you have further questions, please reach out to staff at OfficialPlan@brant.ca or by calling our office at 519.44BRANT.
Invitiation to the Virtual Townhall Session

The draft version of the New Official Plan is ready for review. Find out more here!

The draft version of the new Official Plan for the County of Brant, A Simply Grand Plan, was presented to Council on July 29th and August 10th. These meetings officially begin a 3 month commenting period on the draft so that we can finalize the new Official Plan for approval by Council in January 2022. Comments for this phase of the project can be submitted to staff prior to the end of the business day on October 29th, 2021.

 

  • Want to submit comments on the project? Visit www.engagebrant.ca/TheNewOfficialPlan or contact staff at OfficialPlan@brant.ca.
  • Looking for a summary? We've prepared one that talks about the proposed policies and the tools that will help us implement them once Council has approved our New Official Plan.
  • Have Questions? Visit www.brant.ca/AskOfficialPlan to submit questions or visit www.brant.ca/OfficialPlanQandA to read through some of the common questions received in the earlier phases of the project. 

 

Use the links below to explore the full draft policies and mapping for the New Official Plan. Interactive mapping of the new Land Use Designations will also be available in September 2021 for easy review and commenting. Stay tuned for more information!

Draft Official Plan - Full Text

Draft Table of Contents

Draft Section 1 - Introduction

Draft Section 2 - Strategic Directions

Draft Section 3 - Indigenous Engagement and Reconciliation

Draft Section 4 - Growth Management Strategy

Draft Section 5 - Building Healthy and Complete Communities

Draft Section 6 - Protecting What We Value

Draft Section 7 - How We Green

Draft Section 8 - Planning for Infrastructure

Draft Section 9 - Transportation and Mobility

Draft Section 10 - Economic Development and Prosperity

Draft Section 11 - The County Toolbox (Implementation and Administration Policies)

Draft Section 12 - Interpretation, Monitoring and Review

Draft Section 13 - Glossary

Draft Section 14 - Schedules

  • Schedule 1 - Growth Management
  • Schedule 2 - Designated Greenfield Areas and Excess Lands
  • Schedule 3 - Land Use Designations
  • Schedule 4 - Natural Heritage Systems
  • Schedule 5 - Natural Hazards and Development Constraint
  • Schedule 6 - Major Facilities and Human-made Hazards
  • Schedule 7 - Source Water Protection
  • Schedule 8 - Key Hydrologic Areas
  • Schedule 9 - Mineral Aggregates and Petroleum Resources
  • Schedule 10 - Active Transportation
  • Schedule 11 - Road Network
  • Schedule 12 - Cultural Heritage Areas

Watch the Special Council Meeting presenting the draft of the New Official Plan

 Graphic Invitation for Council Meeting on July 29th 2021 to present the Draft Official Plan

Draft Official Plan - Special Meeting of Council

 

This special meeting of Council was hosted virtually on Zoom on July 29th, and reconvened to finish up on August 10th. The event was broadcasted live on the County of Brant YouTube Channel.

This meeting presented the Draft versions of the Official Plan and Municipal Comprehensive Review to begin a 90 day review and commenting period.

If you have questions please email OfficialPlan@brant.ca or cal 519.44BRANT and ask to speak with our Policy Planning Division.

 Watch the Recent Virtual Townhall Session about Policy Directions

 Invitation to Virtual Townhall Meeting, Click the image to registerPolicy Directions - Virtual Townhall Event

 

Similar to previous Townhall Events, this was hosted virtually on Zoom where participants had the opportunity to answer poll questions. The event was broadcasted live on Facebook and uploaded the County of Brant YouTube Channel.

If you have questions about the event, please email OfficialPlan@brant.ca or cal 519.44BRANT and ask to speak with our Policy Planning Division.

 

 

Check out this information for more information on the Policy Directions of the New Official Plan:

  • The Slideshow Summary presented to Council on June 10th, 2021
  • The Preliminary Policy Direction Report to Council 
  • Visualizing Density in the County of Brant - What does a higher density target mean for us?
  • Question and Answer Summary - Questions received about the New Official Plan Project to-date

 

The draft version of the New Official Plan will be presented at a Special Meeting of Council on July 29th, 2021. Stay tuned for more information!

Preliminary Policy Directions - Special Meeting of Council on June 10th 2021

Special Council Meeting GraphicA Special Meeting of Council is being held to present the preliminary policy directions and begin the engagement process that will help staff create a draft Official Plan for presentation to Council in July. The meeting will be held on June 10th beggining at 6pm and will be held virtually.

  • To watch the meeting, visit www.brant.ca/YouTube
  • To speak as a delegation at the meeting, please contact clerks@brant.ca for more information.
  • The agenda, including the report and attachments, will be published at www.brant.ca/CouncilAgenda a few days before the meeting.
  • If you have questions for staff, please contact OfficialPlan@brant.ca or 519.44BRANT and ask to speak with the Policy Planning Division. 

 

Join Engage Brant to get involved. We've launched a New Official Plan project page!

Button to lead to EngageBrant.ca

We've launched a new engagement tool called Engage Brant!
Click the Engage Brant button to the left or visit our project page at engagebrant.ca/the-new-official-plan for information on ways to get involved with the Official Plan or to check out other projects in the County of Brant. 

 

Looking for the project timeline and more updates? Visit the Engage Brant project page!

How much land do we need for future growth? We have more information!

As part of our Municipal Comprehensive Review (MCR) to help complete the Official Plan, a Land Needs Assessment (or LNA) is done to help determine how much land is needed for future housing and job growth. The preliminary results of the residential LNA and employment LNA have been presented to Council and are available for review. Check out the information and links below. 

 

Residential and Community Lands

The preliminary results of the residential land needs assessment have shown us that we have designated more than enough land to support residential development to the year 2051. We have an excess of 395 gross hectares of residentially designated land and will need to decided what to do with that land. 

 

Want a summary of this part of the project? Click Here!

For more information, read the report and supporting preliminary documents here. 

 

Employment Lands

The preliminary results of the employment land needs assessment have shown that we need to find an additional 103 gross hectares of land to support employment growth to the year 2051. We will need to decide how to accomodate this need. 

 

Want a summary of this part of the project? Click Here!

For more information, read the report and supporting preliminary documents here.

Our Phase 2 Surveys have closed, and the results are in!

Engagement for Phase 2 of the New Official Plan project has wrapped up. Don't worry, there will be plenty more ways to get involved with the project this year (look for more Virtual Town Halls coming in May and June, as well as more surveys about our Policy Directions).

 

In the meantime, check out the information below:

  • Click here to view the slides of the summary presentation made to Council on March 2nd about the survey results
  • Click here to read the full report to Council (including all the survey results and comments submitted)
  • Click one of the topics below to skip to the survey results attached to the Council report:
    • Growth Management
    • Building Healthy and Complete Communities
    • Protecting What We Value
    • How We Green
    • Economic Development and Prosperity
    • Transportation and Mobility
    • Planning for Infrastructure
What growth is the County of Brant expected to see through to the year 2051?
Check out this drop down for more information on the December 8th 2020 Council presentation

The County has been reviewing recent development trends and identified growth drivers in municipal, provincial and global contexts to determine how we'll need to plan for our growth to the year 2051 as part of the Greater Golden Horseshoe. All of this technical analysis is being done as part of the County of Brant Municipal Comprehensive Review.  The December 8th 2020 Special Meeting of Council involved the presentation of the draft background information that has been gathered to help coordinate our growth and inform our Municipal Comprehensive Review, Land Needs Assessment, and ultimately our new Official Plan. Check out the resources below for more information on this meeting:

 

  • Growth Forecasting Scenario - Recommendation Report to Council on December 8th 2020 - as submitted by County of Brant Planning Staff
  • Draft Population and Employment Growth Allocations Technical Report - Presented by Watson & Associates Economists Ltd. on December 8th 2020
  • Growth Forecasting Presentation - Slide Show
  • Watch the December 8th Special Meeting of Council - YouTube Video

If you have any questions about this information, please do not hesitate to contact Planning Staff using the contact information at the bottom of this webpage. 

 Have Questions? We Have Answers! Read our Official Plan Q&A summary here. 

Click here to open the full Question and Answer Summary for our first 3 topics of interest. 

You can also use the links below to go directly to the sections that address the following topics:

·    Growth Management

·    Building Healthy and Complete Communities

·    Protecting What We Value

 

There’s lots of information in this summary, so feel free to use the ‘find text’ function (CTRL F) to search keywords that may interest you. As we continue to compile the questions and answers for the remaining topics, we’ll be updating this summary document accordingly.

In the meantime, please continue to send us your questions to OfficialPlan@brant.ca.
We look forward to hearing from you!

Are you wondering what the County of Brant will look like in 10 years? How about 30 years from now? We are planning into the future, to the year 2051!  


Learn More!

What is an Official Plan?
Each municipality is required to have an Official Plan by the Province of Ontario under The Planning Act. An Official Plan, sometimes called an 'OP', is meant to contain the policy framework and long-term vision to:
  • Guide how the municipality's land will be used today and in the future, and
  • Manage growth and development within a specific planning horizon (for example, 30 years).
How does this project fit with our Strategic Priorities?

An Official Plan is a very big project and will help us with each of the 6 strategic priorities of the County of Brant, while focusing most on sustainable and managed growth. Click here to read more about how the Official Plan will work together with other master planning initiatives to protect and enhance our unique identity as the County of Brant. 

How do you make an Official Plan?

It is prepared by the County of Brant with input from you and others in our community!

This is done through public engagement, careful listening, short and long term planning, strategic thinking, and creation of key policy directions. The Official Plan will help ensure that future planning and development will meet the specific needs in our community. The Province of Ontario requires a municipality to plan for at least 30 years into the future, and to review it's Official Plan at least every 5 years. 

Doesn't the County already have an Official Plan? 

 Yes! The current County of Brant Official Plan was finalized in 2012. It lays out the County of Brant's land-use visions and goals, and was created with a planning horizon of 2031.

The time has come for us to update these policies and it's a perfect time to have your say and make sure that the visions and goals of County of Brant residents are reflected in our updated policies. Starting in 2019, we are beginning the multi-year process to develop our new Official Plan. When created, this new Official Plan will be reviewed by the Province of Ontario to be approved by July 1st, 2022. 

How do I stay up-to-date on all things Official Plan ? 

Looking to stay in the loop as the County updates to its land use planning policies? 

 

Check back here for new information, or visit us on social media @BrantPlanning. If you'd like to be added to a general circulation email list for regular updates, please click here or send an email to officialplan@brant.ca.

 

We look forward to hearing from you !


Topics of Interest

There are a variety of topics that we want to discuss with you, including growth management, resilience to climate change, and other emerging issues in the County of Brant. These topics are intended to invite conversation and brainstorming from our community which will then be incorporated into the Official Plan framework and policies.

If you have a particular interest in one of the following topics, feel free to click the image below to visit the dedicated project page. These pages will provide more specific information about policy directions, initiatives, and engagement opportunities. We will be updating this information on a regular basis (and there's going to be lots of information) so stay tuned to these pages for more information in the near future!

Municipal Comprehensive Review and Growth Management banner image
Click here to learn more about Growth Management & the MCR

A Municipal Comprehensive Review, or MCR, is the technical process behind creating a new Official Plan. The MCR gives us the background information we need to create an Official Plan that will best suit our needs for the future. Click the image above to find out more about managing the population and job growth of the County to the year 2051 (and beyond!) 

Building healthy and complete communities

Building Healthy & Complete Communities

Protecting What We Value

Protecting What We Value

How we green

How We Green

Planning for Infrastucture

Planning for Infrastructure

Economic Development and Prosperity

Economic Development & Prosperity

Transportation & Mobility

Transportation & Mobility


 Questions, comments, or concerns? Get in touch with us!

Our contact information is listed below and we look forward to hearing from you.

phone icon Contact Us

Official Plan Inquiries
66 Grand River Street North, Paris, ON, N3L 2M2
T: 519-44BRANT
Email
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How to find us

Paris Customer Service Office
66 Grand River Street N, Paris
Open Monday through Friday 8:30am - 4:30pm

Burford Customer Service Office
26 Park Avenue, Burford
Open Monday through Friday 8:30am - 4:30pm

T. 519.44BRANT (519.442.7268)
T.F. 1.855.44BRANT
E. info@brant.ca 

A number of services are offered online. Please visit www.brant.ca/OnlineServices. 
Subscribe to updates at www.brant.ca/subscribe





 

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