Development and business play a significant role in how a municipality moves forward, and for Cochrane mayor Truper McBride, the reality of developers approaching council candidates during election time is all part of process.
“There’s nothing illegal, undemocratic or inappropriate going on there,” McBride said of the incident in Calgary, where videotape revealed a developer attempting to sway how city councillors voted when it came to development projects. “To me, that’s standard backroom politics and that’s how a lot of things go, so I don’t think people should be stunned that those kind of things are going on.”
Cochrane is not immune to such dealings, according to the mayor.
McBride said that in Cochrane there is, more often than not, a development/pro-business group that attempts to run a certain slate of candidates who would be supportive of development ventures in the community.
McBride pointed to the 2001 election, saying that five out of seven of those who were elected to council were part of that pro-development slate, and that he and fellow candidate Judy Stewart were the only two who were not part of the group.
Also, in the 2010 election, McBride said there was a discussion involving a development group and potential councillors over which candidates should be put forward to defeat the previous council, as it was the developers belief that many councillors were anti-business.
“They wanted to run a slate of candidates who would get rid of the previous council and reduce the rules and requirements for developing in Cochrane,” said McBride.
McBride repeated that he does not believe this practice to be undemocratic, but said the most important point to take from it is for voters to make sure they know who they are casting their ballot for.
“People really do need to be paying attention to the candidates,” he said, “and making sure that they truly do represent their interests and not the private interests of the development industry.”
McBride admitted that there is money to be made at the local-government level when it comes to development, and that labeling someone as being anti-business is ‘ridiculous.’
“What we’ve been doing over the past six years is practising long-range sustainable planning,” said McBride, “and sometimes that means that a development might take a bit longer because we want to make sure that everything is going in there correctly and when the community is complete and built in the long-run, it’s something that’s going to make Cochrane stronger.”
McBride believes businesses thrive in an environment that is well planned.
“When I hear people say ‘I’m pro-business and pro-developer’ when they run for council,” continued McBride, “what I’m hearing is them saying is that they’re supporting less planning and more short-term gain.”
McBride pointed to some areas in south Cochrane as examples of development that could have been planned better.
“There was no area structure plan put in place there,” he said. “And there were some developments that got green-lighted to go through.”
McBride said the developments in south Cochrane he is referring, such as River Heights, were approved by the council before he became mayor, and much of the area was developed with no infrastructure plans in place.
“That causes headaches,” said McBride. “In the end that causes political problems; we end up spending more taxpayer’s dollars with staff trying to figure out issues.”
Between 2007 and 2010, the River Heights Area Structure Plan was launched to address the issues, and as McBride pointed out, some developments had to wait to ensure ‘a good plan was in place.’
One of such developments is a potential Co-op store in the area, which McBride said the town was presently in the process of reviewing, but was unsure what administration would ultimately suggest to council.
“I’m sure council will expect this development proposal to follow the same process that all other development follows,” he said, “and that it be consistent with the vision laid out for the land within the River Heights Area Structure Plan.”
“New businesses are good, it makes Cochrane stronger,” said McBride, “but they really have to stand on their own two feet and the municipality is there to support them with good planning and good infrastructure.”
