City to continue using planning consulting services
The City of North Battleford will continue contracting out its senior planning services for the time being as it was unable to find a senior planner to hire to meet its requirements.
James Johansen, City Director of Engineering, Planning, Asset Management & Infrastructure, said in his recent report to council that in June 2023, the city hired Northbound Planning Ltd. to provide planning consulting services to the city for the remainder of that year.
While the city retained a recruitment firm in July 2023 to locate a Registered Professional Planner (RPP) to fill the vacant city planner position, it wasn’t able to find any candidates.
For a municipality to be eligible for Approving Authority Status, under the Planning and Development Act, it requires that the city employ or retain an RPP within six consecutive months of a registered planner vacancy or without a contractor.