A decade later, new development plan for northeast Avalon remains a work in progress

An on-again, off-againplan to manage future development and transportation needs on the northeast Avalon is back on the province's radar, more than 10 years after work on it began.

"I'd like to get it done within the next few months," Municipal Affairs Minister Graham Letto told CBC News.

"As minister, I've committed to that, and I've committed to the 15 municipalities that we would get back together and get this completed. So I want to see it done sooner rather than later."

Briefing notes prepared for Letto after he took over the municipal affairs portfolio in November shed some light on the tangled history and potential future of the Northeast Avalon Regional Plan, or NEAR Plan for short.

CBC News obtained those records through access-to-information.

Advice that was provided to Letto is blacked out.

But in an interview, he made it clear he wants to move forward.

"We've gone out to the 15 municipalities that are involved in the plan and written them and asked them to to get engaged again and to get this plan back in action," Letto said.

Existing plan approved in 1976

There have been big changes on the northeast Avalon over the years more people, more cars, and more houses.

But the overall development plan for the region hasn't kept up.

The existing plan called the St. John's Urban Region Regional Plan was approved all the way back in 1976.

"The effort that we're into right now is how do you update that, and make it more relevant to today's society, because we're 40 years down the road," Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador CEO Craig Pollett told CBC News.

MNL has been working with the province, towns, and cities as project co-ordinator for the past few years.

Pollett points towards the Team Gushue Highway project to illustrate why long-term planning over 25- to 50-year time cycles is important.

"That land had been set aside for some kind of transportation link for 30-odd years, and we knew we were going to need something eventually, that's what the plan was telling us," Pollett said.

"If we hadn't set that land aside, there would be no Team Gushue Highway. There'd be no way to connect across the way we're doing now. So these plans are really, really important for long-term planning."

15 municipalities involved

There are 15 towns and cities involved in the NEAR Plan process. The biggest is St. John's, andthe smallest is Bauline.

While towns and cities each have their own municipal plans, the NEAR Plan is for broader, higher-level type of issues that affect the whole region for example, what transportation links will be needed in the future.

Pouch Cove Mayor Joedy Wall says he believes it's important to move the process forward.

"This plan will set out the development for the northeast Avalon for a lot of years to come, including [the] road network, which is very important with the increased population to the northeast Avalon, and all towns are seeing an increase," Wall told CBC News.

"So it is quite important to keep it in the forefront, to have the good discussion on it, to make proper decisions."

RFP issued by province in 2007

Those proper decisions have been a long time coming.

More than a decade ago, in 2007, the province issued a request for proposals to develop a regional plan for the northeast Avalon.

"While there have been some significant amendments to the regional plan over the years, it has not been subjected to a comprehensive review since its adoption over 30 years ago," that 2007 government document noted.

Transportation routes that were identified in the current plan have largely been realized and future routes need to be identified and protected.- 2007 provincial government RFP

"The goals and objectives of the 1976 St. John's Urban Region Regional Plan have largely been achieved. Transportation routes that were identified in the current plan have largely been realized and future routes need to be identified and protected."

The project was expected to be done by early 2009.

Ten years after the initial deadline, that still hasn't happened.

And the NEAR Plan project has since had more stops and starts than a car stuck in rush-hour traffic.

In 2011, the province indicated the plan would be wrapped up within three years.

Instead, by the end of 2013, all sides were instead looking to reboot the process.

• Mayors, province reviving northeast Avalon Regional Plan

"The question for us really will be, when we speak to the minister, is to get an idea from him as to whether or not he just wants to hit start and begin again from where we ended, or does he want to start over?" the then-mayor of Mount Pearl, Randy Simms, told CBC News at the time.

"We look forward to getting down to it and getting it done."

Fast forward to early 2017. Still no plan, but another announcement that the process would begin again.

• Municipalities look to renew northeast Avalon regional plan

The then-minister of municipal affairs, Eddie Joyce, called developing it "a priority for our government."

Parliamentary secretary Graham Letto now the minister was appointed chair of the oversight committee for the NEAR Plan.

But according to provincial briefing notes, the work of the NEAR Plan committee ground to a halt again later that same year, pending the fall 2017 municipal elections.

"We knew that there was going to be a municipal election, and as it happened a lot of the characters have changed in those councils," Letto said in an interview.

"So now that I'm back as minister, I want to make sure that we complete the plan. So that's what I'm interested in doing."

'Majority of the work is already done'

Letto noted that "the majority of the work is already done" on the new plan.

Most of the $771,000 budgeted for the project has been spent.

"It's just a matter of bringing the new players up to speed, and get on with it," he said.

"And I think there is a willingness out there I've spoken to many of the mayors there's a willingness out there to get this completed in a very timely manner."