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Hamlet of Rankin Inlet looks to residents for input on future housing projects

Land development could be influenced by feedback from residents, says SAO
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Rankin Inlet senior administrative officer Darren Flynn said a housing survey put out by the hamlet will give it a better sense of what people are looking for.

The Hamlet of Rankin Inlet is circulating a survey asking residents what type of housing is best suited for the community moving forward.

The two main questions the survey asks are what kind of housing do residents want built in their community and how can multiplexes be improved in terms of storage, work space, insulation, etc.

Senior administrative officer Darren Flynn said the hamlet has some funding from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) under a program called the Housing Accelerator Fund.

He said part of the terms have the municipality looking at ways to innovate and improve the efficiency of the land administration program in Rankin Inlet.

Hamlet council has already done a number of things,” said Flynn. “It's passed a new zoning bylaw and community plan as part of that initiative, way ahead of schedule.

We're also currently doing a rewrite of our land administration bylaw to make things a little more efficient. It allows for a better ease of process.

Another thing we're looking at, as well, is that the CMHC wanted everyone who signed up under the Housing Accelerator Fund to have a discussion about types of houses and density. We have a consulting firm hired on that provides support to our planning-and-lands administrator that is actually conducting the survey.

So, it's another box on our funding agreement that we check off.”

At the end of the day, Flynn said, people are being asked what type of housing they think is suitable for Rankin Inlet.

He said although it's been done in the past by the Nunavut Housing Corp. and its predecessor, the NWT Housing Corp., he doesn't know how much of that information really flowed out.

This one here will give us information at the grassroots level, where we do land administration. We're constantly working at land development and making sure we have availability for new construction. It will give us a better sense of what people are looking for.

It's always good to know what your client is looking for.”

Flynn said any ideas brought forward will be considered and implemented, where viable.

The approach gives the hamlet the ability to move land development in a direction that meets the needs of the community.

In my experience, you don't capture the whole market with surveys most times. In fact, usually, if you get 20 per cent back it's considered hugely successful...

In this case, we are offering a $500 gift card draw and everyone who answers the survey will have their name put into the draw, so maybe that will provide a little bit of an incentive.”



About the Author: Darrell Greer, Local Journalism Initiative

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