The Rural Municipality of Piney is exploring untouched frontiers in its newest development plan.

“It’s been 18 months in the making, with eight community open houses, four focus groups, two community surveys, and we reached over 300 residents,” says Chief Administrative Officer Martin Van Osch. “We’ve put a lot of effort into communicating with the public and I think that is quite notable.”

Piney Council last refreshed their development plan back in 2010 and Van Osch says it was high time to do it again. According to the CAO, the primary goal of the, novel plan is simplifying it to make it more comprehensive to ratepayers. The second objective was catering to cottagers who have been making increasing use of Piney’s backwoods in recent years.

“There is a growing interest in the rural lifestyle out here and our new development plan highlights that,” elaborates Van Osch. “So we’ve actually set up rural seasonal areas for people to come to subdivide, build cottages, and enjoy what most of us see every day; open spaces, beautiful nature, and great bodies of water.”

Whereas past development plans have not spent a lot of time on the matter, Van Osch says this council recognized the importance on listening to the zeitgeist. “The sales have moved in that direction,” he states.

Under the 2020 plan, private land near Woodridge, Kerry, Carrick, South Junction, and Whitemouth Lake have been now all been zoned for rural seasonal sites “giving the landowners the ability to develop if they choose”. First reading was given to the plan earlier this week and Van Osch expects it will pass without issue.