Plan Cumberland Municipal Plan Review

The Municipality of Cumberland is the second largest municipality in Nova Scotia. Its large land base and extensive marine coastline encompass a wide variety of landscapes, and their associated planning issues. Agriculture, forestry, sea level rise, floodplains, cottage development, urban and rural communities, renewable energy, tourism, aging populations, cultural landscapes, and many more issues necessitate holistic planning in Cumberland. The Municipality is also in the process of integrating two former Towns, which have recently dissolved, into its various municipal government structures.

UPLAND led the team to refresh Cumberland’s planning framework to address the issues of today and tomorrow. UPLAND produced a detailed planning analysis of the current conditions in Cumberland, as well as a road map for extensive public consultation, developed collaboratively with municipal staff and politicians. Over the course of the project, UPLAND provided support for the biggest public consultation program ever undertaken in Cumberland. UPLAND then used the results of that consultation to develop a new Municipal Planning Strategy and a new Land Use By-law that are tailored to the needs of the community, easy to understand and apply, and provide the Municipality with the tools to sustainably develop Cumberland’s many different communities.