Twelve people participated in an open house last Tuesday night to provide input into the Red Deer County Municipal Development Plan.The open house, held at Aberdeen Hall, was the first of four offered within the county as a way to gather input for the MDP, last adopted in 2007 and now up for review.ìIf there's a diverse opinion on something, we want to hear that,î said Dave McRae, project manager with ISL Engineering and Land Services, who led the meeting.People were divided into groups and asked to spend 15 minutes at different stations that represented the different sections of the MDP. Hot topics included preserving agricultural land and environment.ìPeople need to realize that change has to happen,î said resident Joyce Sparks about the future direction of the county. Other people agreed, saying making a living off farming isn't always enough, and some people have to take on second jobs or develop part of their land for extra revenue. People also expressed a need to provide more agriculture-related industry to provide farmers with a place to sell their product, and also providing jobs to keep young people around.Others disagreed and said farmland needs to be left alone. They wanted to know just how far urban sprawl would reach, adding that prime soil was being eaten up by annexation from the City of Red Deer.Other stations included residential, industrial-commercial, environment, infrastructure and culture and recreation. Environment stirred concerns from a few participants wanting to know how the county would prepare for shale gas and hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.Fracking is a process in which water, sand and chemicals are injected into a well at high pressure to blast loose the rock and release gas or oil.ìWe're looking at 1,000 cubic metres for fracking per well,î said Don Bester, president of Alberta Surface Rights Group, who lives in the county. He learned more about the impacts fracking has on roads and water contamination after attending a public open house at Eagle Hill in September.ìIt struck me that there was a certain amount of naivete by consultants over shale gas,î said Glenn Norman of Red Deer County consultants leading each group presentation. ìPeople have no idea the intensity that will occur. It's hit Mountain View County and Rocky View. It will come here as well. That was probably the one thing that struck me tonight,î he said.All feedback was collected and will be used when considering amendments to the MDP. The completion of a draft is expected sometime in the spring, with another open house in April. The final approval is expected to a year from now.ìI think the main themes of this were good,î said Bester. ìIt gives new people an idea of the problems in the county Ö It gave the residents an opportunity to express how they feel.îAnother open house is scheduled for this evening at the Poplar Ridge Community Centre located half a mile south of Highway 11A on Rge Rd. 283. Wednesday evening will be the last open house at Lousana Community Centre, on the corner of Main Street and 2 Avenue in Lousana. Start time for both is 7 p.m.
