A public meeting scheduled for Niverville, Man., on Thursday afternoon was abruptly postponed after an overwhelming response made it impossible for the event to safely take place, organizers say.
The meeting — a second public hearing from the Winnipeg Metropolitan Region (WMR) about its proposed “Plan 20-50” — attracted hundreds of members of the public, as well as delegates from 18 municipalities in and around Winnipeg, and the crowd proved too large for safety regulations.
Plan 20-50 is a document that sets out proposed guidelines as to how the city, surrounding communities and rural municipalities can work together as the region continues to grow.
“We were beyond what the fire code could allow in the building,” WMR executive director Jennifer Freeman said.
“Not everyone who was registered to speak was in the room — they couldn’t (all) get in the room to speak — and then the people outside of the room weren’t able to hear what was going on.”
Freeman told 680 CJOB’s The Start that the event was called off to ensure everyone’s safety, and organizers are looking at a new date and a bigger space for future meetings.
The crowd was full of passionate people wanting answers, Freeman said, so the next step for WMR is to create a comprehensive FAQ document to hopefully eliminate any confusion around the plan before the meeting is rescheduled.
“There were questions like, ‘Is this about 15-minute cities?’ That’s not what this is about. ‘Is it about shutting off access to my well?’ No, that’s not what it’s about,” she said.
“We’ve created a frequently asked question form, and it’s going to be posted to our website…. This FAQ addresses common concerns and provides some really clear information about Plan 20-50.
“By making this information available, we hope to help people better understand how it benefits our community.”