New Campus Plan Commits To Sustainable Growth
After months of consultation, UVic’s campus development committee is recommending a new draft campus plan to manage future growth in student spaces and programs. The plan identifies environmentally significant natural areas for protection and restoration and commits the university to incorporating sustainable practices into the planning, construction and operation of buildings and facilities.
A new campus plan will guide the physical development of the campus in accordance with the university’s strategic priorities and its research, academic and teaching needs. Among a number of action steps in the new draft are provisions for regular consultation with neighbourhood groups and local municipal councils.
“This draft plan represents UVic’s commitment to active, ongoing consultation with the community and includes built-in requirements for accountability,” says Jack Falk, vice president of finance and operations and the chair of the campus development committee. “Throughout months of consultation last spring and fall, people came forward with their ideas and their concerns and we listened. That’s reflected in the draft plan. We want to thank all those who took the time to provide feedback on the future of UVic.”
Members of the public are invited to learn more about the plan at an upcoming Open House on April 8 from 3 to 8 p.m. in the Michèle Pujol room of the Student Union Building.
The draft plan was adopted in principle unanimously by the campus development committee (CDC). Subject to a final review in the weeks ahead, the CDC is recommending that UVic president Dr. David Turpin forward the final draft plan to the Board of Governors for approval later this spring. The CDC is a 25-member body comprising students, staff, faculty and administrators.
The draft plan provides policy recommendations in three areas: natural and landscaped open spaces, land and buildings, and travel and parking. Among the recommendations are: a moratorium for 10 years on any form of development in identified natural areas outside Ring Road; a freeze on the use of an identified portion of Cunningham Woods for 10 years; development and implementation of restoration plans for various natural areas; development of a master plan for use of the university-owned CJVI property on Cedar Hill Cross Road; and completion of a comprehensive transportation demand management strategy aimed at reducing single occupant vehicle use.
The draft plan outlines a variety of specific initiatives required to implement its vision and asks the university’s executive to recommend the prioritizing and timing of these action steps within six months of the plan’s adoption.
Copies of the plan are available through UVic’s facilities management department by calling 721-7591. A downloadable PDF of the plan is available at web.uvic.ca/vpfin/draftcampusplan.
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