Wheatland County passes third reading for county, Strathmore IDP document

By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Wheatland County council approved third and final reading of the Strathmore Wheatland Intermunicipal Development Plan (IDP) during the Dec. 3 Council meeting.

An IDP is a statutory document which fosters a collaborative planning approach for lands along common borders between two municipalities.

The document is in its final stages, which requires adoption and approval from both Wheatland County, as well as Town of Strathmore councils.

Wheatland County held a public hearing Oct. 1 and proposed a number of amendments to the IDP document. The Town of Strathmore held a public hearing the following day.

During the Town of Strathmore’s Oct. 2 meeting, first reading was passed, though the document was not approved with the proposed amendments put forward by the county.

A memo was provided Oct. 18 by the Town of Strathmore, agreeing with the majority of the county’s proposed amendments, with the exception of one, to which an additional amendment was suggested to accommodate.

The IDP was presented before the county Committee of the Whole, Nov. 26, featuring the collective amendments to the document. At this point, the document was approved on principle and was accepted as information, but could not yet be voted on.

The Town of Strathmore had also scheduled to review the amended IDP document during the Dec. 11 regular meeting of council.

Originally scheduled to be reviewed Dec. 4, the document was pushed back in order to accommodate for ongoing town budget discussions and deliberations.

Deputy Reeve Scott Klassen motioned for the county to amend bylaw 2024-22 in accordance with the Town of Strathmore and Wheatland County’s IDP document.

Prior to council voting, Coun. Shannon Laprise pointed out minor textual errors present in the document which would need to be removed prior to the final formatting of the document by administration.

Klassen’s motion was passed by council unanimously without further discussion. Following this, a vote was called for third and final reading of the IDP document.

Coun. Tom Ikert made the motion bringing a vote on third reading to the floor. Council voted unanimously in favour of passing the document without further discussion or debate.