Kensington considering municipal strategic plan

The Town of Kensington is considering investing in a strategic plan as a first step towards building a second industrial park.

The proposal came up at a recent committee of council meeting.

The town has been negotiating with the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency and Innovation P.E.I. in an effort to secure funding for a second industrial park as the current one is full. However, those groups strongly recommended that the community get a strategic plan on the books before moving ahead with such a major investment.

“Hopefully, out of this, we would have some sort of long-term vision and priorities so we can start to move forward in a strategic direction, instead of being reactionary,” said Mayor Rowan Caseley.

City staff said the project would cost the community about $22,000 but added that funding is available from other levels of government to help offset the expense. Some councillors expressed concern about the cost and whether the community really needs to go through the exercise.

But Caseley pointed out that, while an industrial park is probably going to be part of the strategic plan, there are likely to be many other recommendations come out of the process that council has not considered. The plan would set a goal for the community several years or a decade into the future.

The committee voted unanimously to move the decision on whether to proceed to the next monthly council meeting.