The MRC of Portneuf has announced that it will update its Agricultural Zone Development Plan (PDZA) next January. This planning document aims to enhance the agricultural zone of the MRC by promoting the development of agricultural businesses and activities and their products.
“The first PDZA dated from 2016. We were due for an update, as much of the portrait as the diagnosis and the action plan. It is certain that businesses in the agricultural and agri-food sectors will be invited to participate. These are both companies that are in agri-food production or processing, but also restaurateurs, public market managers, people who work at gourmet events. We will also ask the UPA of Portneuf to transfer the invitation to its members, and even a citizen who feels challenged by the subject could participate. We are addressing a wide range,” mentions Andrée-Anne Béland, regional development agent MRC de Portneuf.
The pulse of the field
Committees, made up of elected officials, staff members of the MRC of Portneuf, agricultural producers, agri-food companies as well as stakeholders from the bio-food sector, are at the heart of the process. “We obviously want to have the pulse of people in the agricultural and agri-food sector to have a diagnosis that is as reliable as possible to, afterwards, help us guide our actions. We want to have the pulse of the field in order to then have an action plan that really meets the needs of the territory,” adds M.me Béland.
The PDZA update will be carried out in several stages. There will first be a portrait of the territory and its agricultural activities which will allow the development of a concerted strategic vision, developed on the basis of the challenges to be met and the objectives to be achieved. Subsequently, short, medium and long term strategies will be identified. The creation of an action plan proposing concrete activities will complete the process. The MRC’s objective is to achieve adoption of the final document in the fall of 2025. During the process, public consultations will be carried out. The first will take place on January 14, 2025.
Participate
“There will be an exercise to say what are the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats related to the activities of the agricultural territory. The more people who participate, the more we will be able to document and come to propose actions that fit with the particularities of our territory. For people, I would tell them to participate to voice their concerns because it will all lead to an action plan. If they have any concerns or specific issues, now is the time to come and say so,” underlines Sylvie Béland, planner at the MRC of Portneuf.
With
To properly begin the updating process, the MRC produced a report on the first PDZA. The fifteen-page document presents achievements, justifications, lessons learned and recommendations. It is possible to consult it at: https://portneuf.ca/nouvelles/lancement-demarche-mise-a-jour-pdza-portneuf/. It is presented in the form of three orientations, six development objectives and thirteen actions to be carried out. Of these, six came under the Territorial Planning and Urban Planning Department and seven under the Economic Development Department of the MRC of Portneuf. The three main orientations of the first PDZA were to diversify agri-food activities, to increase the notoriety of the Portneuf name through the influence of its agri-food sector as well as to promote the development of the agricultural zone and ensure its sustainability.
Finally, it should be noted that the MRC of Portneuf wishes to change the name of the PDZA. The document will now be called the Territorial Development and Biofood Activities Plan (PDTAB) of the MRC of Portneuf.
