Lemer | a () for. | COUNC a, 2a a4 Continuing & fui Education APR 17 4972: REGIONAL PLANNING for REGIONAL DISTRICTS" The 18th annual short course in Community Planning, Walter Gage Residences, University of British Columbia. May 1- 5, 1972. . . '. THE PROVINCE: The 28 regional districts in B.C. are required under the Municipal Act to prepare regional plans. The Province has spent over $1 million on planning grants to regional districts to help, but to date plans have been prepared in only 8 regions, and 4 of these predated the establishment of regional districts. The Minister of Municipal Affairs has of late lamented the failure. of regional districts to prepare plans, and has challenged the districts to "produce or else". THE REGIONAL DISTRICTS: It has been said that regional districts are tooth- less children, lacking in provincial and local commitment. The deliniation between regional and provincial responsibilities is hazy and changing. Local urban or rural political clusters dictate regional priorities, The regional district population assessment base is inadequate to finance the job properly, even if the legislation was adequate. With this ill-defined responsibility and authority, the regional districts cannot tackle problems with conviction, and the public sees little purpose in their existence. - AND MEANWHILE: A valuable recreation area is destroyed by overuse. A rich farmland area or orchard is chopped into lots while poorer soils nearbyare left vacant. A flood plain is built up, increasing the potential loss by flooding. A recreational subdivision threatens an observatory site. A trailer part is built ona swamp. Hit and miss subdivisions dot a town's hinterland. Industrial pollution eliminates a tourist potential. Scattered development forces