The District of Wells Launches its First Public Consultation on PlaceSpeak

The District of Wells is encouraging residents to share their opinions and feedback in a public engagement initiative powered by PlaceSpeak. The consultation responses will be used to guide a Forest Stewardship Plan for the nearby Wells Barkerville Community Forest.

The forest covers approximately 4300 hectares  north of the town of Wells and contains some of the areas recreation trails, forms part of the town’s viewscape, and is a popular non-timber forest product harvesting area.

At its core, community forestry is about local control over and enjoyment of the benefits offered by local forest resources. This consultation aims to uncover community values and sentiments that will aid decision making processes related to forest management, resource allocation, and long-term planning.

Margaret Inoue, Marketing and Economic Development Officer at the District of Wells understands the value that PlaceSpeak adds to the consultation process and is looking forward to engaging with a broader demographic.

“Community engagement and consultation are essential components for the future development of our community forest.  While we are also using traditional methods of public meetings and print notices, we are excited to include PlaceSpeak as one of our methods of communication and engagement.  Even in our small, remote town, there are many people who use social media extensively and choose to engage through digital media and by using PlaceSpeak, we are hoping also to have this demographic take part in the conversation.”

Get Involved

Interested District of Wells residents can get involved by taking a short survey,  joining in a discussion topic or by attending an event. Feedback will be collected on an ongoing basis.