Rocky View Forward, a new initiative with an aim to create better governance within Rocky View County (RVC), is inviting residents to sign up for newsletters and notifications to stay on top of applications and proposals for future development within the county.
“We see that the current council majority seems heavily in favour of industry, in particular development. And up until now, there hasn’t really been a level playing field,” said Samanntha Wright, one of the group’s founding members.
“Lots of people feel that residents are completely under represented, and that the majority of council is not doing what they feel council should be doing. They feel that often, there is a bias or slant towards industry.”
According to Wright, developers have an unfair advantage when it comes to presenting a proposal to council, since they have the ability to hire representatives who can “dissect” every application to ensure its approval. Residents, she said, typically don’t know about these proposals until they see an ad in the newspaper.
“If they find out about it early enough, they can come to council and voice their concerns, but to attend, you have to take a day off work and it’s not very realistic for most people,” Wright said. “How can we stay on council to keep bringing in better policy and sticking to the policy at hand?”
Wright said the recent number of administration recommendations that have been overwritten by council is “astonishing,” and hopes by bringing the voice of residents to council meetings, that number will go down.
“A big part of what we are trying to do is educate people and make them realize that the issues are there,” said Janet Ballantyne, the group’s other founder.
“Right now, people really only find out about the developments that will happen in their district if they are in the tiny notification area. We want to give people notifications of everything that’s going on within their district, as well as county-wide, because you never know who might be affected by a particular application.”
The group’s members aren’t required to pay a membership fee or attend any meetings, Wright said, but rather sign up to receive notifications and newsletters containing pertinent information. Ballantyne said while the group currently has members from throughout RVC, they are looking to find more contacts in the eastern part of the county.
“This isn’t just about country-residential people who don’t want to see change, this is about agricultural communities, too,” Wright said.
“This is about the people in this county, so that we can hold our representatives accountable. I think, sometimes, councillors forget that they represent the people – industry doesn’t vote. And I think our councillors forget that.”
For more information about the group or to sign up for notifications, visit rockyviewforward.com
“The only time your voice matters is not every four years, when you cast a vote,” Wright said. “Municipal politics, that’s where you can make the most change as one individual, but it’s also where the most change can impact you.”
