Tillicum Burnside Plan engagement
Happy Cities led community engagement for the Tillicum Burnside Plan, to inform the District of Saanich’s long-term planning for housing, land use, transportation, and public space.
Collage made by participant at public realm workshop.
Happy Cities led community engagement for Phase 2 of the Tillicum Burnside Plan, a diverse urban neighbourhood in the District of Saanich. The plan envisions Tillicum Burnside as a vibrant urban village, and will guide the District’s long-term planning for housing diversity, affordability, and supply, alongside land use, transportation, and public space. The engagement process was designed to shape an actionable plan that reflects community aspirations for an affordable, inclusive neighbourhood with a high quality of life.
Supporting growth policy and dialogue
Conversations around growth and change can be complex for municipalities to navigate, particularly as community members have diverse preferences and levels of understanding related to land use policy, transportation, housing, and municipal planning processes.
Happy Cities led the design and facilitation of five community workshops to foster dialogue and hear in-depth feedback from the community. Workshop activities were designed to be low-barrier and inform residents about planning processes while also encouraging them to share their vision for Tillicum Burnside. Each workshop provided an opportunity for community members to explore a theme in detail, including:
Land use
Transportation
Public realm
Creative engagement tools
Our team created a series of hands-on activities for each workshop, including asset mapping, route mapping, planning growth scenarios for density using Lego, art-based visioning, and more. These creative approaches aim to help participants identify common values and engage in equal dialogue around challenging topics.
Workshops were complemented by an informal pop-up and an online survey, giving additional low-barrier opportunities for residents to share their input and help shape the future of Tillicum Burnside. The final summary report identifies priorities, concerns, and opportunities that we heard from the community, to inform the new area plan.
Participants and activities from various workshops.
Collages made by participants at public realm workshop.
