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18 Real Estate Leader, Thursday, July 28, 2011 Your Halton Connection August 2011 www.halton.ca The Citizens' Priorities ­ Halton Region's 2011-2014 Action Plan by Regional Chair Gary Carr Citizen input into the Action Plan Working with the community in new and innovative ways helped the Region develop priorities, initiatives and actions that reflect what residents like about living and working in Halton and what to focus on to make it even better. Some of the ways the community shared their thoughts included: a phone survey and focus groups with Ipsos Reid an online survey through Halton's website input from Councillors on the top five Regional issues they heard from constituents when they were on the campaign trail the first ever Halton Region Citizens' Reference Panel a public roundtable meeting The Citizens' Reference Panel was a group of 36 randomly selected residents from Burlington, Halton Hills, Milton and Oakville who, over the course of four Saturdays in January and February, 2011, learned about Halton Region's programs and services and helped identify priorities for Halton Region's four year Action Plan. Halton Region impacts so many areas of your daily life. From emergency medical services to children and seniors' services to affordable housing to Regional roads to waste management to providing clean drinking water, Halton Region's services help improve the lives of Halton residents. On June 22, Halton Regional Council approved The Citizens' Priorities ­ Halton Region's 2011-2014 Action Plan which sets out Council's work plan and agenda for the next four years. Included in the Action Plan are 25 priority areas ranging from fiscal responsibility, planning sustainable communities, protecting public health and public engagement, as well as measurable key initiatives and key actions. The Action Plan serves as a framework for decisions on fiscal, policy and operational matters and forms the foundation to effectively align the priorities established within the Region's budget and business plan. The Action Plan has been developed to be a living, responsive document that will be reviewed annually to reflect its progress. Regional Council will also use this annual review period to reflect any changes in the Region's economic outlook or changes in Federal or Provincial government policy direction. It is also fundamentally different from any strategic plan we have ever developed at the Region because we worked closely with the community at the beginning of the process and listened to what the community told us was important. The Action Plan will not only guide the work that Halton does on a daily basis, it will also provide a way to measure both Regional Council's and staff's performance and achievements in a way that is clear and easy to understand. It contains measurable priorities and actions that act like a report card, so that each year residents will be able to clearly see what we have achieved for the taxpayers of Halton. I would like to thank everyone for their participation in this very important process. Together we are ensuring that Halton Region remains a great place to live, work, raise a family and retire. To read a copy of the Action Plan visit www.halton.ca/actionplan. How will Halton Region keep the community informed? To keep you informed on how Halton Region is delivering on the priorities outlined in the Action Plan, every year we will provide a report card that will highlight the progress achieved in the priorities, initiatives and actions in the Action Plan. This report card will allow residents to clearly see what we have achieved for the taxpayers of Halton and whether Council and staff have met the public's expectations. 2FCÏÍPQRÏPCNMPRÏA?PBÏUGJJÏ@CÏGQQSCBÏGLÏC?PJWÏÏUGRFÏ?LMRFCPÏMLCÏDMJJMUGLEÏC?AFÏWC?PÏSLRGJÏÏUFCLÏ?Ï new Action Plan will be developed. The Panel also hosted a Public Roundtable Meeting on Saturday, January 29. More than 50 members of the public joined the Panel to provide their input on the priorities they believe Halton should focus on for the next four years. This page has been donated by this newspaper to communicate important information to Halton residents at no cost to taxpayers. 2FCÏ0CEGML?JÏ+SLGAGN?JGRWÏMDÏ&?JRMLÏkÏÏ PMLRCÏ0B Ï-?ITGJJCÏ-LR?PGMÏ*+Ï* "G?JÏÏMPÏÌÌÏkÏ2MJJÏDPCCÏÌÌÌÏkÏ227ÏÌÌÏkÏUUU F?JRML A? We welcome your feedback. Contact Access Halton at accesshalton@halton.ca.