Rural communities in Chatham-Kent could have a new advisory committee in the near future.
On Monday, South Kent councillor Trevor Thompson entered a motion requesting municipal staff look into creating a new committee for rural communities.
According to Thompson, about 6,200 businesses are in Chatham-Kent and about 3,900 of them are outside of Chatham and Wallaceburg.
"There is no rural BIA looking out for your needs. There is no chamber of commerce specifically tailored for rural businesses," said Thompson.
Over the last few years, Thompson said residents in rural communities have voiced that they feel disconnected at times.
“That’s not to speak ill of the work that we’ve done," said Thompson. "I think we’ve done a lot of very good work even, both from staff and council standpoints. I think our economic development team has done a very good job, at least as good a job as they can without, maybe, always understanding the rural point of view.”
The original motion stated that some municipal programs have been inaccessible to rural entrepreneurs and business owners. It also stated that the municipality has been without a staff agricultural specialist since 2019.
"The timing is right to have this new advisory committee begin during the new term of council," said Thompson.
Wallaceburg Councillor Aaron Hall felt the request be referred back to municipal staff for more details, which was what council ended up voting to do.
“I believe sending this back, gathering more information and just getting an overall perspective of all our committees would be the best and most prudent way forward for council at this time,” said Hall.
The report will return to council for discussion by the June 20 council meeting.
