The results of a two-month needs assessment survey for Cochrane have town officials feeling confident they are “on track.”
“There were no huge surprises … there are already numerous solutions being worked on,” said Susan Flowers, manager of Cochrane Family and Community Support Services (FCSS).
The report was presented to mayor and council at the June 13 town meeting and accepted as information.
With more than 1,200 resident responses, key issues identified were the need for public transportation, less traffic congestion, need to enhance feelings of inclusion and belonging, 24-hour urgent care, affordable and accessible counselling options, a continuum of housing for all stages of life and income levels, affordable recreation opportunities, things to do for youth ages six to 17, employment, education and training opportunities, and increased awareness of existing programs and services.
Suzanne Gaida with the town said there are already a lot of groups that have formed in the community who are working on the issues.
“It’s nice to know that we are not that far off,” Gaida said.
With a population of more than 26,000 the majority of people who completed the survey were adults between the ages of 18 and 64 with 17 per cent of survey results from seniors and four per cent from youth.
The top two answers for why people moved to the community were “quality of life” and “family.” When asked what residents liked most about living in Cochrane the themes of “location,” “friendly and supportive people” and “small town feel” came up the most.
The report also stated that many people said the growth of the community has “occurred at a rate which services such as transportation, affordable housing, programs and health services have not been able to keep pace.”
When asked what key issues face residents of Cochrane and area, the top three themes were “traffic/roads,” “growing too fast,” and “public transportation.”
“Transportation has been on our radar for awhile,” Coun. Ross Watson said.
The main intersection of concern in the report was Highway 22 and Highway 1A which is slated for a nearly $50-million upgrade.
The province announced the funding earlier this year from the province with construction anticipated to begin in 2019.
Other common themes in key issues including crime, lack of well-paying and full-time employment, lack of walkability and mental health and addictions.
Flowers said with Cochrane’s phenomenal growth in the last decade – more than 47 per cent in the last five years – this was an important time to look at the social issues.
“It’s been an interesting project to work on,” Flowers said.
While some of the highlights presented by Flowers, Gurpreet Sidhu, from Applications Management Consulting Ltd., and Cassandra Caiger, from Intelligent Futures, included a high satisfaction rate for quality of life in the community, councillors were surprised to hear almost half of youth and 44 per cent of adults said they have felt “isolated” or “lonely” in the last year.
“I’m shocked to hear youth and young adults feel lonely,” Coun. Morgan Nagel said.
The presenters said the comments in the full report showed youth didn’t feel like there was connectivity between neighbourhoods resulting in isolated/lonely feelings.
The report will be released to the public later this week.
Now, with the report completed, administration said it will work on a community action plan.
The Town of Cochrane FCSS, United Way and Alberta Health Services funded the project.
