Design Guidelines for Infill Development: Survey now open

Haldimand County has partnered with students from the University of Guelph’s School of Environmental Design and Rural Development for a research project on infill development. Applications for infill development projects regularly generate a substantial amount of public interest, and a recurring theme is a desire for the development to match the character of the existing neighbourhood, specifically the ‘small town character.’

To address this, the students have been asked to develop design guidelines for infill development based on best practices and feedback from the Haldimand community. Residents are invited to fill out a survey to share their thoughts. The survey will be open until March 21, 2023.

Part of a Master’s degree course entitled Advanced Planning Practice, the partnership allows students to gain experience learning about specific municipal planning issues in a real-world context. In return, the municipality receives extensive research on a topic of interest that can benefit its community. The students are proposing to attend a Council-in-Committee meeting in April to present their findings. Should the guidelines prove to be attainable in the context of Haldimand County, they could be considered for implementation as part of future updates to the County’s Official Plan and/or Zoning By-law.