Adam Jackson / Black Press staff
As a hamlet of the County of Stettler, the people of Erskine want a say in their development.
And the County of Stettler is all ears.
On July 13, the county hosted its first Erskine concept night where the people of Erskine were able to voice their opinions about the future of the hamlet. More than 40 residents of Erskine travelled to the IOFF Hall to hear what the county had to say.
“We hired a consultant to do a concept plan for the community and we invited everyone out to see where they wanted to go in the future,” said CAO Tim Fox.
“It’s a chance to get everyone involved and see if we want to grow east, west, north or south, what we want the community to look like as well.”
The two sides were given a chance to discuss everything from growth to which buildings to protect and the general style of buildings that are still to be built.
“We heard a little bit of everything,” said Fox. “Some of the comments were focused on keeping a family-friendly appearance to the community, but there were a lot of different opinions.”
“A lot of stuff was written down in the concept plan that has been compiled, but not necessarily presented at the meeting.”
Representatives from the county also had a chance to do a walkabout through the town and see what was already there.
“Everybody went outside and walked around the town and see physical things and experience the town,” said Fox. “It’s kind of a neat process of hearing the things that they want done.”
Fox says that although, with the structure of the county, Erskine is considered a hamlet, it is still a large part of the community.
“It’s a fairly large community — it’s 350 people so it’s as large or larger than Big Valley and Donalda even though it is a hamlet,” said Fox. “Location-wise, it’s a gateway to Buffalo Lake and in a really unique spot.”