Regina – As Regina Mayor Michael Fougere and councillors from RM of Sherwood debate how a long-term annexation plan should take shape, area developers are praising the mayor for taking such an approach to city planning.
On Friday, Mayor Fougere released a long-term vision on what land the city would need to annex to support a population of 500,000 people.
“The concept of this annexation plan, I believe, will allow the developers and investors in this province a clear line of sight to where to place their capital,” said Blair Forster, the Vice President of Development with Harvard Developments. “I think that’s really important.”
Harvard Developments has held a presence in Regina for more than 100 years and currently has a number of neighbourhoods in various stages of completion. The company is now asking the city to annex a piece of land on the city’s eastern edge. The goal is to build a neighbourhood complete with residential and commercial properties.
“(We) have been working for quite some time with (the city) and adjacent landowners on a concept plan that would put it into production as early as a couple of years from now,” Forster added.
The story is the same all around the city. On the west end, Dundee Development’s Harbour Landing project is quickly running out of room – and the company has also pushed for the annexation of land from the RM.
“It’s all about growth and we need houses; we need places for people to live, work and play,” Dundee vice-president Ned Kosteniuk told Global News.
Councillor Tim Probe from the RM of Sherwood agrees the city should have the right to grow, but he says the RM was never informed a long-term plan was in the works, and he wants to make sure the long-term interests of the RM remain on the table.
“The city should grow, and we want it to grow,” said Probe. “Saskatchewan is in a booming economy. Saying that, what we’re going to want is to be able to share in that economic benefit.”
Exactly what kind of development the RM would like to see will be unveiled Thursday morning. A press conference involving the RM and Great Prairie Developments has been called to unveil what is being hailed as a mega-project.
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