Article appeared in the Nov 17,2011 issue of the Interlake Spectator…
About 50 people attended a forum in Teulon on Nov. 10, on housing issues affecting communities across rural Manitoba. Participants were mainly Reeves and council members from numerous southern Interlake towns and municipalities, including Arborg, Riverton, Teulon, Selkirk, Stonewall, Lundar, Dunottar, Winnipeg Beach, and the Rural Municipalities of Armstrong, Bifrost, Rosser, Woodlands, Fisher, Eriksdale, and Siglunes. Some interested individuals and community groups concerned with housing also attended. They gathered to identify problems and to brainstorm about solutions to common housing problems.
The line up of presenters began with consultant, Tom Carter, who gave an in-depth presentation entitled, “Housing Issues, Challenges and Solutions in Rural Communities”.
Carter, a retired Professor of Geography at the University of Winnipeg, is President of Carter Research Associates. Much of his recent research has focused on housing needs and solutions in rural areas. He emphasized the central role that housing plays in community development, and suggested that municipalities work together rather than compete to increase their population base. He stressed the need for flexible strategies, such as reducing fees, land costs, and property tax forgiveness at the municipal level. At the provincial level, he suggests down payment grants to prospective home buyers, per door rental incentives, and streamlining the planning and development process for builders.
Carter brought up many concerns–a decline in federal funding for housing and a reluctance of the provincial government in making up the shortfall. He also noted that government immigration policy is not in step with its housing policy. With many immigrants are moving to smaller communities, in addition to a trend of people choosing to move to smaller communities from cities, a lack of affordable housing, especially rental housing, exists. As a result, growth in smaller communities is hindered.
Claudette Griffin, of L.J. Barron Realty, was invited to share information on trends and issues in the Interlake market place. Griffin noted that in much of the Interlake region the average sale price of a year round home has decreased since 2009, and houses are selling more slowly, except in the RMs of Gimli and St. Andrews, where average prices have increased since last year.
“Not everyone is prospering and flourishing in the rural areas,” she said. “One thing we have to do as community leaders is sell our communities. We all have that responsibility.”
Other presenters included Terry Lindell, of Lindell Developments and Henry Sikora, of Community Futures West Interlake, who made a joint presentation, “Community Housing and Housing Costs Report and Models”, emphasizing the disconnect between what it costs to build and what people can afford to pay; Ruth Mealy, from Manitoba Agriculture, Food & Rural Initiatives (MAFRI), who spoke on ideas to expand housing options in communities; and Steve Krahn, who gave a presentation about Habitat for Humanity, and others.
Presentations concluded with a panel discussion by Pat McCallum, Economic Development Officer in Arborg. She shared the process of working on a housing needs assessment, which utilized a research template developed by Carter Research Associates. Duane Nichol, Deputy Mayor of Selkirk, who spoke on mental health, housing and homelessness, and how his community focussed on affordable housing and food security to combat poverty, and some of the multi-facetted approaches that his council took to address housing issues; Colleen Engel of Teulon discussed the continued development of the 40-acre Crescent Creek Trailer Park, and shared its success story; Lana Cowling Mason from the RM of Woodlands, discussed their 55-plus project, Oak Park Estates.
The forum ended with a think tank session, where people broke up into groups to discuss what might work in their respective communities.
