Chelsea 2040
Reuel S. Amdur
At the October Chelsea Council meeting, an outline presentation was shown, as to where it was hoped to see Chelsea in 2040. This strategic plan is found on the municipality’s website. It sees key features of that future as being connected to nature and to the community and being regenerative. The mission is to work alongside the community to provide socially responsible services to enable people to experience Chelsea fully. As to values, the plan sees Chelsea as a socially responsible change agent committed to promoting understanding.
The plan rests on four pillars, identity, nature and connection, people and community, mobility and active lifestyle, and responsible operations and services. We turn to some of the projects under each pillar.
Under “Identity,” we focus on three projects, a 2025 150th anniversary celebration, mixed housing, and a community bulletin board. The bulletin board on the municipal website offers community groups an avenue of communication. And mixed housing is essential to make Chelsea a complete community, not just a village for the very few. People who work in Chelsea should be able to live there.
Among the projects listed under “Nature and Environment,” we address four projects. There is the fonds verts, a program of funding for small environment-friendly undertakings. Chelsea has a climate action plan and an undertaking to protect turtles. It is creating an Environment Department.
Under the pillar “People and Community,” Pivot is a major undertaking. This is a new platform to facilitate communication between Chelsea and its residents. The municipality can use it to talk to residents, and residents can use it to make requests. For requests, it serves as a single doorway. This pillar also supports a car-sharing program.
The pillar “Mobility and Active Lifestyle” promotes access to the river, along with naturalization of the shoreline. Chelsea is working with Mobi-O, an organization promoting safe active mobility, on a plan to improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists on Scott Street. Signage along Voie Verte is another project. Finally on this pillar, Chelsea has earned a silver award for being bicycle-friendly from Vélosympatheque.
Under the final pillar. “Responsible Operations and Services,” the document mentions public consultations and diverse channels of communication.
This report is a selective picture of the document. Chelsea claims that the plan has seen 15% of projects completed and 52% in progress. This statistical claim may be difficult to verify. But it is clear that the work on this strategic plan has been impressive.
