Tay Valley Township Cohousing Plans Catch the Eye of the Province

Tay Valley Township was pleased to share its plans for implementing its Age Friendly Community Plan with TVO’s Steve Paikin last night on Ontario’s current affairs program, The Agenda.

The segment titled “How to Age Well in Rural Ontario” addressed the challenges facing seniors outside of urban areas and the supports needed for seniors to live well.

When Tay Valley Township completed its Age Friendly Community Plan in 2017, through a grant from the province’s Seniors Secretariat, it was based on the results of a survey and community sessions.  Residents identified housing, transportation and social inclusion as their top priorities.  A lack of public transit, a lack of alternative housing opportunities, and the lack of opportunities to socialize were the biggest barriers identified.

The Township Planner, Noelle Reeve, stated, “Township residents came forward with innovative forms of housing for rural areas not on sewer and water and we are trying to make their vision a reality”.

Tay Valley Township subsequently received a grant from the Ministry of Seniors and Accessibility to identify changes needed to its Zoning By-Law to allow for cohousing development (rather than traditional one unit per one lot, single family development).  The grant also permitted the Township to examine ways to better communicate with seniors and to make its facilities, trails and events more inclusive of seniors.

Reeve Rob Rainer stated, “We are committed to making the necessary changes to the Zoning By-Law to permit cohousing and are working with Frontenac County and the province to make servicing cohousing with communal septic systems more easily achieved.”

To watch the TVO episode visit https://www.tvo.org/video/how-to-age-well-in-rural-ontario