Architect of County’s award-winning Official Plan addresses ROMA conference

The County of Essex’s award-winning Official Plan is in the spotlight again, this time at the Rural Ontario Municipal Association (ROMA) conference in Toronto.

Rebecca Belanger, the County’s Manager of Planning Services and chief architect of the widely lauded Official Plan, was asked to be part of an expert panel Monday morning on strategies for managing rural land.

This past October, the County’s Official Plan – titled “One Land, One Climate, One Future, Together” – was named 2025’s Ontario municipal Project of the Year by the Ontario Professional Planners Institute (OPPI). Belanger and her team have been widely praised for the document’s commitment to protecting agricultural and natural heritage systems in Essex County while also addressing significant growth.

“Rebecca being asked to present her work to our Ontario municipal colleagues is yet another meaningful, province-wide honour for the County of Essex,” said CAO Sandra Zwiers. “It’s a testament to her knowledge and skills and also a testament to the high calibre of employees here at the County of Essex.”

Municipal official plans aim to design successful and livable communities, with the challenge of balancing short- and long-term public needs as far ahead as 30 years. Considerations include where people live, work, go to school and spend their free time.

ROMA is the rural arm of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO). More than 1,900 delegates from more than 300 Ontario rural municipalities are gathered for ROMA’s three-day annual conference at Toronto’s Sheraton Centre Hotel.