By Cecilia Nasmith

As the Town of Cobourg begins the process to develop a town-wide Affordable and Rental Housing Community Improvement Plan, it is inviting citizens to a Jan. 23 public open house on this project.

The plan is being developed in response to the rising need for affordable and rental housing options within the town, the press release said, and will also advance the execution of the recently released Northumberland County Affordable Housing Strategy.

The release describes a Community Improvement Plan as a strategic policy tool that can provide a suite of incentives to address specific local needs and priorities – in this case, the promotion of affordable and rental housing, as well as sustainable and accessible economic development.

The study officially began in October and is expected to take about eight months to complete. The community is invited to take part in the informal Jan. 23 session to learn more about the study and to participate in open discussion.

The town has retained an experienced consulting team, consisting of MHBC Planning and SHS Consulting, to prepare the Affordable and Rental Housing CIP. MHBC are experts in the fields of urban and strategic planning, policy development and stakeholder consultation, while SHS are award-winning leaders in housing analysis an policy development.

At the public open house, the town will welcome representatives from both firms to provide a summary of the background review undertaken and the public-engagement feedback received to date, as well as an opportunity for participants to inform the next phases of the study.

The event takes place in the Citizen's Forum at Victoria Hall (55 King St. W.) from 6 to 8 p.m.

Anyone interested who cannot attend is encouraged to visit the town's on-line public-engagement site Engage Cobourg (www.engagecobourg.ca) to provide feedback through a variety of engagement tools, including forums an a quick poll. Citizens can also subscribe for project updates to stay informed.