Perth County Stewardship Program

Perth South Council was provided an update on the Perth County Stewardship Project at the March 7, 2023, Council meeting. Mel Luymes, Principal Consultant at Headlands ag-environ-solutions, and Sarah Franklin, Communications Officer, Perth County discussed the environmental stewardship program that was launched in 2022 to support resident environmental projects aimed at protecting our soil, water, and air.

The approach to be utilized is one where the County will listen to residents through a number of public input sessions, an online survey, and one-on-one discussions with a wide variety of local organizations including farming organizations and conservation authorities. In addition, existing programs established in other municipalities will be reviewed to learn best practices that could be incorporated into the Perth County program.

To date, over 150 surveys have been submitted and five input sessions have been held. The project leads indicated that people are eager to invest in environmental sustainability and the planting of more trees. In addition, it was noted that many are not familiar with the grant programs that are currently available, so an education component is important, but also having a staff member that can help farmers with their grant applications increasing the likelihood that their applications will be successful.

February 6, 2023

Perth County Seeking Input on Stewardship Program Development

Perth County and its member municipalities (North Perth, Perth South, Perth East, West Perth) are seeing input into the development of a Stewardship Program for the region. Stewardship Programs aim to support residents and encourage them to undertake environmental projects that protect soil, water, and air quality.

The first phase of the project is aimed at reaching out to both the rural and urban communities to better understand the environmental issues they see, the types of projects they would like to do, and what type of support they might need. Perth County has launched an online survey available for all residents to contribute their thoughts, and will be hosting five input sessions for anyone to attend and provide input.

The dates for these sessions are:

• Friday, Feb 17 1-3pm - Milverton

• Tuesday, Feb 22 7-9pm - Mitchell

• Thursday, Feb 23 1-3pm - St.Pauls Station

• Tuesday, Feb 28 1-3pm - Listowel

• Wed, Mar 1 7-9pm - Online

The project is being led by the County local agri-environmental consultant, Mel Luymes, who is reaching out to agricultural, community and environmental groups alike for their input. Anyone interested in providing input can also contact Mel directly through the County’s website. The ideas gathered from the survey, input sessions and one-on-one consultations will be compiled and presented to the community and to Perth County’s Agricultural Advisory Committee in March for additional feedback. The project plan will be presented to County Council with hopes of launching the Stewardship Program before the end of the year.

To learn more about the project, participate in the survey, and register for an input session visit: www.perthcounty.ca/stewardship

Perth County held a public engagement session at the Downie Optimist Hall on February 23, 2023.This public engagement session is one of many to be held across Perth County. In addition, an on-line session will be held on March 1, 2023.