If you have suggestions on how Bradford should accommodate an additional 40,000 people and 19,000 jobs over the next 2.5 decades, this is your chance to share them.
Council is scheduled to hold a public meeting in the Zima Room of the Bradford West Gwillimbury Public Library, 425 Holland St. W., at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, June 25, to introduce, and solicit feedback from residents about, a proposed update to the town’s growth management plan.
Work on that plan and public engagement is being led by consultant WSP Global Inc., to help the town prepare to hit population and job targets of 84,370 and 30,900 respectively by 2051.
To accomplish this, the plan is broken into two parts, with work expected to be carried out on both simultaneously — Part 1, intensification, and Part 2, settlement boundary expansion.
Work planning for intensification is expected to take one year and focus on the Major Transit Station Area (MTSA) near the GO Train station and Bridge Street corridor; intensifying existing residential areas within the Bradford urban boundary and Bond Head; re-evaluating and protecting employment lands within the existing urban area; and planning to fully utilize the Highway 400 employment lands.
Some key targets include having 42 per cent of all new housing units built within the existing urban boundary, and for new developments to help achieve 55 people and jobs per hectare.
A report and recommendations on the intensification strategy should come to council sometime in the second quarter of 2025.
Work planning for expanded settlement boundaries is expected to take six months. It will focus on finding areas adjacent to existing settlements best suited to handle new growth, and planning to provide those areas with municipal water and sewer services.
However, according to a copy of the presentation included in the meeting agenda, WSP note that the infrastructure needed for servicing “must be financially viable.”
WSP expects the town will need an additional 16,270 housing units of various types to house the anticipated population, and even with increased density targets, town staff have previously estimated Bradford would need to add 449.1 hectares of new greenfield lands to meet the goal.
WSP note the town has already received “numerous” requests to expand the urban boundary, including for the redevelopment of the Bradford Highlands Golf Club.
Further consultation with relevant agencies and the public is expected to continue this fall and throughout 2025 with a report and recommendations on the boundary review anticipated in the first quarter of 2026.
This comes as the latest step in the ongoing efforts to update the town’s official plan, which guides how property can be used in Bradford and to which water and sewer services will be provided, as well as potential expansion of municipal boundaries, transportation planning and more.
Council is not expected to make a decision as part of Tuesday’s meeting, but staff plan to submit a report based on public feedback at a future date.
Anyone who can’t attend the meeting in-person can still provide written submissions about the growth management plan by email to [email protected] or by mail to: Town of Bradford West Gwillimbury, c/o Director of Corporate Services/Municipal Clerk, 100 Dissette St., Units 7 and 8, P.O. Box 100, Bradford, ON, L3Z 2A7.
For more information, visit townofbwg.com/planbwg2051, email [email protected] or call 905-778-2055, ext. 1400.
