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Lake Plan | Crane Lake

LINK: LAKE PLAN – COMPLETE

LINK: LAKE PLAN – EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

 

For the past decade the Crane Lake Association (CLA), as the representative body for property owners on Crane Lake, has given serious consideration to the design and development of a Lake Plan.  In the summer of 2013, the CLA put forward to its membership a formal commitment to move forward in the development of a plan. A steering committee was created.

Lake Plans are living documents used to provide the Association, membership and local and provincial governments with reference material as to the intentions and wishes of the community. They are increasingly important in areas where cottagers are facing development, and municipal governments often request that lake associations provide a Lake Plan for reference when they are approached by developers and other interested parties.

Based on the considerable work done for Lake Plans by other local Associations, and the guidelines provided by the Federation of Ontario Cottagers’ Associations (FOCA), a structured approach was established based on the following stages.

Step 1 – Planning & Process

  • The intent to create a Lake Plan was announced at the 2013 Annual General Meeting of the Crane Lake Association. Interested persons were encouraged to reach out to the Board to be included in the steering committee.
  • The Lake Plan Steering Committee was created to include all those that volunteered to help.
  • The planning process to commence the design and contents of the Lake Plan include determining the scope of the plan; Prepare work list of information to be collected; Contact stakeholders; Prepare survey.

Step 2 – Information Gathering

Survey

  • Survey designed & circulated to stakeholders in summer of 2013.
  • Members of the CLA provided with a copy of the survey with their Newsletter.
  • All property owners received email with link to survey.
  • All properties on Crane Lake received a ‘dock drop’ with a card containing information regarding the survey.
  • 169 surveys completed and returned.
  • Copy of the Survey is available here.

Workshop

  • Participants in the survey who indicated their interest in further involvement were contacted with the opportunity to participate in follow-up workshops to review the survey and further discuss and identify important areas of focus on Crane Lake.
  • The workshops were held in the summer of 2013 for all responding participants.

Information Gathering

  • Members of the Lake Plan Steering Committee proceeded to gather the necessary research and details to fit with those areas identified as critical in the Planning stage, as well as to support those areas of importance identified by the survey. Supporting information was gathered from various reliable sources including: The Township of the Archipelago; FOCA; MoE; MNR; Fisheries & Oceans Canada; Muskoka Conservancy; Ontario Nature; Water Quality Survey of Blackstone, Crane, Healey and Kapikog Lakes, 2008

Step 3 – Consultation

Notice of discussion of the Lake Plan was circulated to property owners of Crane Lake a month in advance of the 2014 Annual General Meeting. A presentation on the findings of the survey and the next steps of the Lake Plan were discussed at the 2014 CLA Annual General Meeting, including a breakout session to obtain further input. During the breakout session, attendees were provided large blank pages and markers and were provided with instructions to brainstorm responses that were used to supplement the survey and help focus further the areas of importance. The results of this workshop were found to be complimentary to the survey and supported the results found within.

At the 2014 Annual General Meeting, the CLA announced that the final steps would be the circulation of the Lake Plan to members at the Annual 2015 General Meeting and by email circulation to all property owners

Step 4 – Implementation

The Lake Plan Steering Committee proceeded to compile the relevant sections of the Lake Plan with presentation to the Crane Lake Association board for review. Final version of the Lake Plan is posted online, with review at the 2015 Annual General Meeting.

Step 5 – Monitoring

The Crane Lake Association, on behalf of all Crane Lake Property owners, understands the importance of the Lake Plan as a living document and has committed to a monitoring process in which the Plan will be reviewed at least every five years. These reviews will be conducted by the CLA Board of Directors, who will determine the scope of the review based on the needs and intents of the community at that time.