Lethbridge County council adopts new strategic plan

By Erika Mathieu
Sunny South News

Lethbridge County has moved to adopt the 2022-2032 strategic plan, which will focus on four pillars of service, and act as a living document for current and future councils.

Council met earlier this year to discuss key points and work towards a cohesive vision for the county.

During the April 21 regular council meeting, Reeve Tory Campbell said, “I think sometimes it’s hard to really lock down what some of the final vision and goals are, but these are definitely markers for us to set our sights on and work towards,” and that the discussions which informed the creation of the plan centred, “lots of very healthy discussion.”

Chief Administrative Officer for the County, Ann Mitchell said, “a strategic plan will enable council and stakeholders to have a deep understanding of how they envision the community.”

She added, “The newly elected council has placed a great emphasis on understanding what our community and citizens want for their future well-being. As a local government, we recognize the very impactful ways to which we can support these aspirations. We have delivered a strategic plan that we feel provides, to our administrative team, absolute clarity so they can best allocate their time, resources, and effort to achieve the most value possible for all community stakeholders.”

The plan outlines four key pillars. 1) The strategic plan aims to provide responsible governance with respect to policies which guide operations to enhance the county; 2) the plan focuses on building strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders to strengthen the broader community; 3) the  plan emphasizes acknowledging the ways in which the county is a versatile region and finding ways to ensure all stakeholders can thrive; and 4) the plan provides a framework for Lethbridge County to foster an environment that will encourage investment in innovation and technology in the region.

Since the document has been formally adopted, administration can now move forward to develop a corporate plan, followed by departmental plans, which will allow administration to, “monitor and measure the strategic vision and how it is being implemented.”

Although some concern was raised by council over the timeline of the strategic plan, which spans 10 years, Mitchell said the document is not set in stone and is merely a way to, “make sure that the vision is long enough so that it is attainable.” She added it is a living document, which will be revisited on an annual basis, and when a new council is voted in after the next civic election. Mitchell said its implementation will involve, “key performance indicators to make sure we are meeting our targets.” Additionally, administration will give quarterly updates to council to ensure the strategic plan is, “not just something that is sitting on a shelf.”

For more information on the County’s strategic plan visit: lethcounty.ca/p/strategic-plan

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