Windsor’s 20 Years Strategic Vision

By – Abass Wali

Windsor has big plans in the upcoming months. The mayor and councillors will unveil plans for developing the city over the next several decades.

Little city and big plans – the biggest topic after the federal government election in Windsor will be the 20 year strategic vision for the city.

“The 20 year vision plan will probably be laid out over the next six months to a year and it will be sort of mapped out. After that, we will be following up for the next 20 years,” said Ward 3                  Councillor, Rino Bortolin. “We can make Windsor attractive for businesses. We can make sure the downtown continues to be an attractive place for residents. There are lots of different things we can do for Windsor and it is in our plan.”

A partner at Toronto based Strategy Corporation John Matheson, said the draft document was created after being discussed with city Councillors.

“The idea of this meeting was to bring the residents together so they have to know what is going on and what they want for their area or in general for the whole city,” said Bortolin. “We have an online survey so everyone can participate in this online survey. The next meeting is at the Mackenzie Hall. The whole idea of these meetings is to know about different parts of the city’s problems, so this way we can make a better plan to build the city.”

Windsor’s Fire and Rescue Services Chief Bruce Montone, said public safety and security are very high on the list of priorities. As the 20 year plan moves forward, they wish to develop and bring the whole thing together over time. When they start to create the initial design they say they are very confident the issues are relative to public safety and will certainly find a new way into the plan.

“From what I’ve read, the 20 year strategic plan is about the public safety. It’s in their first priorities, at the same time the Windsor Fire and Rescue department has its own plan that we will send to the Councillors and mayor’s office,” said Montone.

In the next few months Windsorites will learn more about the 20 year strategic vision and there will be more meetings to determine the best plan to follow and in the years to come.