Local governments across the Central Okanagan have agreed to form a new partnership that’s focused on sustainable transportation.
Regional District of Central Okanagan board chairman Robert Hobson and the mayors of Kelowna, West Kelowna, Lake Country and Peachland, along with the Westbank First Nation, have signed a memorandum of understanding with the goal of working together to identify and address long-term transportation issues.
“Transportation issues are top of mind for all residents across the Central Okanagan,” said Hobson. “They are also an important part of local government official community plans and our Central Okanagan regional growth strategy, which is being updated. This new partnership brings all of our interests to the table in dealing efficiently and effectively with transportation matters, so that we can find common solutions and apply them from one end of the region to the other.”
The benefits identified in the new partnership include:
• The establishment of unified regional policies and strategic transportation plans,
• Improved responsiveness to Central Okanagan residents and local elected officials,
• Potentially reduced costs through regional efficiencies, reduced duplication, sharing of resources, survey data, best practices and funding,
• Providing a means to measure and monitor regional benefits and implications of transportation decisions,
• Creating a forum and collective voice to effectively communicate with senior governments.
In addition to the regional board endorsement of the plan, all the local councils have approved and support the new partnership.
Staff from each local government will now work together to craft more formal agreements for the structure, funding and operation of the sustainable transportation partnership.
