In 2005 the community’s first comprehensive policy survey of 65 questions was completed by 367 house-holds and became the foundation for the Community Plan which forms part of the City of Ottawa’s Official Plan. The 2012 Community Survey of 69 questions was completed by 110 households between February and May of 2012.
The questions were developed by the CBBCA Survey Committee to enable the CBBCA to establish specific policy positions; this meant asking questions to determine what we want and don’t want. The purpose was to establish a quantified community position on issues which might be important to the community and that the CBBCA might need to comment on in the foreseeable future. The CBBCA compendium of official public policy positions are under development and will be published here early in 2013. This will define the content and some of the boundaries of how the CBBCA will represent the community.
The survey produced nearly 600 comments; 270 related to survey questions, nearly 100 reinforced the importance of previously established priorities , there were 77 program suggestions, 47 comments related to Policing, and 22 comments referenced frustration with pet owners. Many previously established priorities were not addressed in the survey as they form part of our official Community Plan and are already part of the CBBCA’s official policy positions, for example; protecting the forest, improving cyclist and pedestrian safety on Bayview, preserving our rural culture, and ensuring we do not become a “tourist destination”. The survey results and comments are very important for determining facility, program, and space priorities and how we will prioritize municipal activities. Clearly the time has come to press the City to fix Bayview and follow through on paving the shoulder for a cycling/pedestrian lane. In October 2012 the CBBCA met with the Ottawa Police Service to reinforce the importance of aligning patrols to the needs of the community; based on the survey input we will follow through with an enforcement priority list focussed on reducing vandalism and Traffic Act enforcement on Bayview. The comments also made it clear that a small number of ATV and snowmobile users are, through noise and reckless driving, preventing a wider acceptance. The community as a whole is supportive of greater enforcement and supervision on the beaches; this was a CBBCA focus area in the past and one we are willing to engage on again but there are significant obstacles. There was also a wide range of innovative suggestions.
Finally, nearly 20% of residents commented on the operations of your Community Association and provided opportunities for improvement.
Click on an image to expand it and scroll through the pages as a slide show or you can download the survey here 2012 Village Survey Results.
