Residents of the Virgin Islands are invited share their vision for the Territory’s physical development in a series of public meetings on National Land Use Maps and Plans.

The meetings will be held from Wednesday, July 12, to Monday, July 17, under the project titled enVIsion 2040 Smart Land Use Planning for the Virgin Islands.

The project is an initiative to develop Land Use Maps and Plans for the Virgin Islands as required under the Physical Planning Act, 2004 (termed as a National Physical Development Plan).

The maps and plans are being developed over a 16 month project from March 2017 to June 2018 with four major phases including: Situational Analysis; Visioning; Development of the National Physical Development Plan; and Development of the Plan Implementation Package. The enVIsion 2040 project is expected to ultimately guide land development of the Virgin Islands over the next 20 years to meet agreed community, economic, environmental and cultural goals.

Environmental Officer for Climate Change in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Labor, Ms. Angela Burnett said, “Public input at the meetings will help us to answer questions such as, what should the Virgin Islands look like in 2040? How should our communities and economy evolve? Additionally, community feedback will help us with understanding how we should balance economic development with environmental and historic protection, as well as the type of infrastructural improvements and social services needed to support the Territory’s growth.”

Deputy Chief Planner, Mr. Dylan Penn added, “This exercise will help authorities to properly map how our lands should be planned and developed over the next 20 years to achieve our collective vision for the Virgin Islands. The process will also help to manage developers’ expectations and guide them in achieving their goals” 

Public engagement will be sought at all phases of the process. Chief Planner in the Town and Country Planning Department, Mr. Gregory Adams noted that “good planning is a close collaboration between planning professionals and communities”, and is encouraging members of the public to “become active participants in planning a future Virgin Islands where they want to live and work.”

Meanwhile, Principal of Environmental Systems Limited and lead consultant for the enVIsion 2040 project, Dr. Cassander Titley-O’Neal, echoed the importance of public participation in developing a strong, realistic plan that is reflective of community aspirations and capable of being successfully implemented.

Phase one of the project is about to close, and the public is invited to a series of Territory-wide meetings where the findings of the Situational Analysis will be shared, and initial thoughts gathered to feed into the “visioning” phase of the project. The schedule of meetings is as follows:

The enVIsion 2040 project is led by the Town and Country Planning department, in partnership with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Labour, with technical assistance from Environmental Systems Limited in collaboration, with Dillon Consulting and Acacia Consulting and Research.

The project is being supported under the umbrella of the regional iLand Resilience Project to promote climate change adaptation and sustainable land management which is funded by the European Union and administered by the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Secretariat.

Photo attached:  EnVIsion 2040 Flyer