Moving 14 & 44 ForwardThat’s the tagline for Southwest Georgia’s 2011 Regional Plan. This plan is a requirement by the Georgia Department of Community Affairs who has the authority under O.C.G.A. 50-8-1 et seq to establish standards and procedures for appropriate and timely regional planning by all Regional Commissions in Georgia. Therefore, over the course of the next year and a half, the Regional Commission will be working to develop this important document. The Regional Plan describes a vision for Southwest Georgia. However, the document is not strictly visionary. Along with this vision are implementation policies and procedures. These policies will provide guidance for local governments to ensure new development works toward achieving the stated vision.  The Regional Plan addresses issues surrounding the protection of cultural and natural resources, economic development, tourism, literacy, transportation and workforce readiness. The Plan contains three main sections: the Assessment, the Stakeholder Involvement Program, and the Agenda. The Assessment will be written by Regional Commission staff, and is an objective look at regional issues and opportunities. The Stakeholder Involvement Program details how the Regional Commission is going to engage regional stakeholders; getting input on identified issues and strategies to implement and address those issues.Finally, all of this input is refined into the Agenda. The Agenda outlines standards, policies and procedures that local governments throughout the region must employ in their day-to-day development decisions. These standards are to ensure consistency across the region and promote a unified approach to common social and development interests and obstacles.  Compliance by all local governments with the minimum level of these standards will be expected within three years of adoption of the Plan. Failure to do so could mean the loss of a local governments Qualified Local Government (QLG) status, which would bar them from access to certain State and Federal dollars. Please send any questions you have to lmiller@swgrc.org. To see a listing of funding sources tied to QLG Status see QLG_Programs.pdf To download an information sheet on the Regional Plan click here Regional Planning Handout.pdf |
