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Land-use Framework

 

 

Land-use Framework (2008)

 

Provides a blueprint for land-use management and decision-making that addresses Alberta’s growth pressures.

 

Understanding Land-use in Alberta  (2007)

 

The way in which land is used, the land-use issues, and the choices required to best manage and sustain land for Alberta's future.

 

 

Purpose of the Land-use Framework 

 

The Land-use Framework (LUF) sets out a new approach to managing our province's land and natural resources to achieve Alberta’s long-term economic, environmental and social goals. The LUF establishes seven new land-use regions and calls for the development of a regional plan for each.

 

 

LUF is about:

  • improving provincial leadership on land-use issues through policy direction and guidelines;
  • taking a new approach to manage public and private lands and natural resources to achieve Alberta's long-term economic, environmental and social goals;
  • increasing certainty for industry through integration and coordination of provincial policy and aligned planning and decision-making;
  • encouraging stewardship and conservation on public and private lands;
  • clarifying roles and responsibilities for land-use decisions at all levels; and
  • improved information sharing. 

 

LUF consists of seven basic strategies to improve land-use decision-making in Alberta: 

 

Strategy 1: Develop seven regional land-use plans based on seven new land-use regions

 

Seven regions were created through the Land-use Framework that are congruent with the province's major watersheds and aligned with municipal boundaries.

 

 

Strategy 2: Create a Land-use Secretariat and establish a Regional Advisory Council for each region

 

A Land Use Secretariat under the leadership of a Stewardship Commissioner and Stewardship Minister now oversees development and implementation of regional plans and provides support to Regional Advisory Councils. 

 

Strategy 3: Cumulative effects management will be used at the regional level to manage the impacts of development on land, water and air

 

A cumulative effects management approach is used in regional plans to manage the combined impacts of existing and new activities within the region.

  

Strategy 4: Develop a strategy for conservation and stewardship on private and public lands

 

The Government of Alberta continues to develop new policy instruments to encourage stewardship and conservation on private and public lands.

 

 

Strategy 5: Promote efficient use of land to reduce the footprint of human activities on Alberta’s landscape

 

Land-use decisions should strive to reduce the human footprint on Alberta's landscape. This principle should guide all areas of land-use decision-making: urban and rural residential development, transportation and utility corridors, new areas zoned for industrial development, and agriculture.

 

  

Strategy 6: Establish an information, monitoring and knowledge system to contribute to continuous improvement of land-use planning and decision-making

 

The Government of Alberta is creating an integrated information system to ensure decision-makers have access to relevant information. The system includes regular monitoring, evaluation and reporting on the overall state of the land, and progress toward achieving provincial and regional land-use outcomes.

 

Strategy 7: Inclusion of aboriginal peoples in land-use planning

 

The Government of Alberta continues to meet Alberta’s legal duty to consult aboriginal communities whose constitutionally protected rights, under section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982 (Canada), are potentially adversely impacted by development.

  

Priority Actions

 

Work continues to address priorities such as metropolitan plans for the Capital and Calgary regions, the North Saskatchewan Regional Plan and a number of policy gaps and areas of provincial interest.