County discussing affordable housing within local region

By John Watson Local Journalism initiative Reporter

As of the March 22 regular council meeting, Wheatland County Council has decided to withdraw from the board in which affordable housing solutions are discussed. 

The board consists of organizations within the county which offer services relating to housing and social services. 

These stakeholders include but are not limited to: Wheatland Housing Management Board, Wheatland Crisis Society, Strathmore Overnight Shelter, Strathmore FCSS, Wheatland FCSS, Wheatland County Food Bank, Alberta Health Services, Calgary Rural Primary Care Network and the Strathmore Pregnancy Care.

Councillor Shannon Laprise has been attending meetings of the board on behalf of the County since Nov. 2021 and has reported back to council. 

The concern she raised during the regular council meeting is that there is no longer any merit to her attending the board’s meetings as the County has little to contribute to ongoing discussions.

“I’ve been thinking to myself, what is our role in this coalition? I started thinking about what we have in terms of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats. And generally speaking, in some of our hamlets we do offer low-cost housing,” said Laprise. “In some cases, we also have secondary suites permitted in most of our residential land-use areas.”

Laprise listed transportation within the county as a weakness, given that many locations are remote from access to social services and there are limited inter-county transportation options.

Councillor Glenn Koester agreed, transportation within the county is a barrier for many, especially those who are considered to be low income or impoverished. 

“I think the biggest hold-back for the county and the villages is transportation. The housing is affordable, but the transportation to get to work is not affordable,” said Koester. “There’s a real crunch in Strathmore and a lot of the businesses are finding a hard time to get employees because employees don’t make enough money to rent a place in Strathmore.”

Koester added that despite the relative affordability of housing in the hamlets, affordable transportation to get residents to their employment still remains a discouraging factor. 

“It’s a tough sell – it’s hard for Strathmore, but it’s an opportunity maybe for people to move into the hamlet. Transportation is the biggest obstacle,” said Koester. “It’s expensive, what else can you say.”

Following a motion to withdraw from the affordable housing meetings, council concluded that the Wheatland Family and Community Support Services WFCSS and the Wheatland Housing Management Board will keep council up to date on the issue of affordable housing going forward.