Town looking for more participation in Bridgeburg focus group
November 7, 2025 at 3:45 AM
The town is putting out another call for anyone interested in helping develop a future vision for Bridgeburg North.
Councillors approved a motion by Ann-Marie Noyes at the Monday council-in-committee meeting to reopen an expression of interest for community members to apply to be part of the Bridgeburg North Secondary Plan focus group. While it’ll be reopened to anyone, the goal is to get some more interest from community groups.
“I’m just wondering if we could open it up again because I think some of these community organizations may not have been aware of it and may be interested in putting their name forward,” Noyes said before putting forward her amendment to the staff report.
Bridgeburg’s welcome sign on Jarvis Street. Credit: Town of Fort Erie | FacebookMunicipalities create secondary plans to provide a more detailed vision for an area than would be found in its official plan. The intent is to be more specific on how the town or city envisions development in the subject area.
The focus group for Bridgeburg North’s secondary plan would be a key resource for town staff and consultants to determine what the community wants to see in the secondary plan. The town’s webpage about the focus group suggests a mix of residents, landowners, businesspeople, community organizations and developers.
However, the staff report said none of the 27 submissions for the focus group that arrived in time for the October 8 deadline were from community organizations. Despite that, project manager of policy Aaron Hair said the focus group wouldn’t be their only chance at input.
“There are other opportunities for these people to be involved throughout the process but if council wishes, yes we could also open it back up,” he said.
Councillors preferred the option of reopening the application process. While the Town did advertise the expression of interest on social media and on its ‘Let’s Talk’ website, the Canada Post labour disruptions limited other advertising opportunities, including in the newspaper.
“I would like to see community organizations involved in the process,” Noyes said.
The motion called for a full reopening of the process for an extra month with a focus on finding community organizations that are interested in participating.
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About The Author
Luke Edwards
Luke Edwards is a longtime Niagara community journalist who has covered a variety of beats, including business, agriculture, the wine industry and politics. When not writing, there's a good chance he can be found at a baseball diamond or curling rink.
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