Final Report Area F Issues Study
By Jo Anne Malpass
The final report of the Area F Issues Identification Study was present to the Columbia Shuswap Regional District Board April meeting by Allan Neilson, from Neilson Strategies. The Study considered options within the current CSRD system. Incorporation was outside the scope of the study.
The study included two in-person meetings, one on-line, an on-line survey and a brochure mail-out. The study was paused for a time during the Bush Creek East Wildfire and then resumed in late fall 2023.
In total, 582 respondents partially competed the online survey; 383 respondents completed the survey in full.
Survey results showed that at 81.3%, Area F First Responders recorded the highest satisfied respondents, followed by Community Parks with an overall satisfaction rate of 74.0%.
The highest level of dissatisfaction (62.5%) was assigned to Shuswap Emergency Preparedness, “a grade that almost certainly is related to the response to the Bush Creek East Wildfire. Development Services (Planning) recorded a dissatisfaction of 52.4% — the second least popular service.”
In all, 67.0% of respondents disagreed with the notion that they receive good value for the taxes paid for CSRD services.
If faced with trade-offs to make, 40.6% of respondents would choose to maintain current service levels and minimize future tax and/or user fee increases. Approximately 21.2% would prefer to pay reduced taxes and receive lower levels of service. 27.8% would favour service level increases and be willing to pay higher taxes and/or user fees.
Respondents identified a strong desire (80.1%) for more opportunities to provide advice and recommendations on local services. A total of 83.7% of respondents wanted decisions on local services to be made by representatives from the local communities.
Some of the concerns noted from the public meetings included bylaw enforcement — particularly in Anglemont —to address illegal dumping, trailers, onsite sewage concerns and unsightly premises; the desire for a new fire hall in Anglemont; road rescue service; a lack of trust in the CSRD; challenges in receiving building permits; and an inadequate level of influence for individual electoral area directors at the CSRD Board table.
The report made two recommendations:
That the CSRD Board consider establishing an Electoral Area F Local Advisory Committee, comprised of North Shuswap residents, to consider issues and advise on local concerns.
That the CSRD Board of Directors consider a non-statutory service review of Bylaw Enforcement, Development Services (Planning) and Building Inspection services.
The report will be reviewed and will return to the Board table at a future meeting.
Full report in Governance reports at https://www.csrd.bc.ca/408/Reports
