SUBMITTED
The Community Safety and Well-being (CSWB) Advisory Committee for Lanark County and the Town of Smiths Falls has released its updated plan for 2025 to 2029.
CSWB plans are provincially mandated for municipalities to complete. The first plan for Lanark County and Smiths Falls was approved in 2019, prior to being mandated. The update was adopted this spring by all Lanark County municipalities and the Town of Smiths Falls, and was endorsed by Lanark County Council as well.
“We are excited to proceed with the implementation of this plan, which reflects the community’s assets, risk areas and short- and long-term goals to support safety and well-being,” said Committee Co-Chair Jodi Empey, Smiths Falls Police Chief. “We have a strong record of community collaboration here along with a wealth of existing assets we can build on as we tackle identified issues.”
The CSWB advisory committee consists of more than 20 members representing a range of sectors: justice, youth, community organizations, health care, social services and housing, victim services, education, culture and diversity, climate and environment, and local government. The committee began the work of updating the plan in 2023. It used the original plan as a foundation and identified key themes, conducted surveys, interviews and focus groups and reviewed local data and reports. This led to the identification of assets, gaps, outcome statements and development of goals, measures and strategies.
The new plan includes six outcome statements as a vision for the community, along with four theme areas (affordability and quality of life, health, violence against persons, and priority populations and diversity). Within each theme are several pillars that include information about assets, risks/issues and relevant data, followed by goals, measures and strategies to show how the work will be done.
“Very early in the process it was clear housing, food security and income were big concerns in our community,” said co-chair Deanna Theander, who is United Way East Ontario’s regional director for Lanark County. “Evidence shows enhancing access to these basic needs can mitigate risks in other areas, such as health and mental health.”
The advisory committee will be working on an implementation plan with more detailed steps and measures over the coming months. “We learned during the pandemic that CSWB plans are living documents, and the implementation plan will reflect this as we adapt to changing circumstances or new information,” said Stephanie Gray, CSWB Plan coordinator. “Annual progress updates will be developed for councils, stakeholders and the public as we go.”
The plan will be available on municipal websites and can also be found at https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/xx7518qm878a0m4g4d9zn/CSWB-Plan-for-LC-and-SF-2025-2029-FINAL.pdf?rlkey=t6q0d44hn6lt9clokhybj69uw&st=po0byfom&dl=0
