Greg Newman

Background

About Greg Newman

Early in my career I worked as a land use planner for the Township of Rideau Lakes, a rural municipality of roughly ten thousand within a geographic area larger than that of the City of Toronto. The planning issues in Rideau Lakes largely pertained to development along the waterfront and efforts to balance rural growth with the need to protect natural heritage features and agricultural resources. Leaving Rideau Lakes I found myself in the private sector where I spent five and a half years with McIntosh Perry. The many diverse assignments under my management benefited from the collaborative approach of the team and the desire to identify options which upheld the interests of the public. Although I enjoyed working as a consultant I had a desire to return to the public sector to support larger community planning projects. To this end, I accepted a position as the Manager of Policy Planning with the City of Kingston where I helped lead the creation of area plans, a population, housing and employment forecast, and measures to ensure the long term conservation of local heritage assets. While I enjoyed Kingston, I had a yearning to make my way out west to see what I could learn from planning in a completely different legislative, economic and geographic context. My first landing point was the City of Delta. I was again privileged to work alongside a great team of planners who introduced me to the legal framework for decision-making in addition to the nuances behind the BC planning practice. Delta is a unique community in the context of the Lower Mainland as it is comprised of three urban communities separated by highly-protected agricultural lands. This means that growth must be managed within limited serviced areas despite the presence of seemingly unconstrained lands. After six months at Delta, I accepted a management position with the City of White Rock. After nearly two years at White Rock, I made my way back to Delta where I was actively engaged in supporting the day-to-day planning operations of the City, in addition to long-range planning efforts including a review of growth strategies and land use controls as well as the advancement of measures to address local housing needs. Today I am a self-employed Registered Professional Planner (RPP).