Chatham-Kent (CK) council will be updated next week on plans to revitalize Wheatley after the devastating blast of 2021.
On Monday night, councillors will also be asked to adopt the 2025-2029 Wheatley Community Development Action Plan.
A staff report by CK Economic Development Officer Kyra Knapp noted the first goal is to build Wheatley’s investment attraction, activate incentives to unlock key sites, strengthen workforce skills, market Wheatley’s value proposition, and coordinate enabling infrastructure to create more diverse businesses, stronger investment interest, and get residents better prepared for new employment and entrepreneurship.
Other goals include enabling downtown mixed-use and adaptive reuse, plan servicing for growth, enhance active transportation, program spaces year-round, advance a regenerative tourism brand, package experiences with regional partners, improve visitor infrastructure and information, build an all-season events calendar, and expand outdoor recreation.
The hope is to have visitors contribute to local prosperity, environmental stewardship, and community pride.
"The Plan aligns with municipal strategies and is structured to be grant-ready, with phasing, indicative costs, and success measures to support external funding applications and transparent reporting," wrote Knapp in her report.
Knapp said the first two years will focus on launching quick-win actions; setting up monitoring and evaluation of such things as event attendance, business openings and retention, and repeat visits; and ongoing engagement with residents, businesses, the Wheatley Task Force, and municipal partners.
The Wheatley Community Development Action Plan drew on broad local input and data from a community-wide survey, interviews, small groups, and two public meetings.
Costs to implement the plan's key directions will be referred to the budget process and will be partially supported through provincial funding.
To date, the province has provided $1 million to support the development of the new Wheatley Downtown Park.
