Official Plan Project

The current Official Plan came into effect in 2009 and was last updated in 2015. The Planning Act requires Official Plans to be updated every five years. The Official Plan must also be consistent with Provincial policies, and conform to the County of Essex’s Official Plan. It is now time to update the Official Plan to meet the current (and future) needs of Essex residents. Developing a new Official Plan is a chance for the Essex community to provide input into creating new and innovative policies that will affect how Essex will develop into the future.

The Town of Essex Official Plan will be focused on several key areas:

Growth Management	Residential Intensification and Affordable Housing	Source Water Protection
Parks and Open Space	Cultural, Architectural and Archaeological Heritage	Agriculture and Specialty Crops
Energy Conservation and Climate Change	Natural Heritage	Implementation and Interpretation

Consultations with the Public, Council, and Community and Development stakeholders were held and the following items were completed:

• A Background Review and Gaps Analysis (BRGA) Report to summarize engagement efforts with various stakeholders;
• A review of all existing and ongoing Provincial, County, and Municipal policies or initiatives that will drive changes to the Town’s Official Plan to ensure conformity;
• A scan of best practices and innovative methods being employed in preparing Official Plans across Ontario; and,
• An inventory of policy gaps and opportunities for the new Official Plan.
• A Heritage Feasibility Memo to assess the feasibility of a Heritage Conservation District (HCD) within the broader project umbrella of the Colchester Secondary Plan (CSP).
• A Policy Directions Report to outline specific policy directions in response to those gaps and opportunities identified in the BRGA Report.
• A Colchester Parking Study to determine if current on-and-off street parking areas can support residential tourism and growth in Colchester.
• A draft of the Official Plan and Colchester Secondary Plan and Schedules for Public consultation.

Hundreds of comments were received as a result of Public Consultation and were summarized in a Phase 1 Consultation Summary.

The following works have been completed as part of Phase 2:

• A Settlement Area Review to identify candidate lands to accommodate the County’s forecasted employment/industrial growth for the Town, analyze residential intensification potential in the Town, and identify settlement area boundary adjustments.
  
  
• Recommended Policy Changes on the Colchester Secondary Plan in responses to additional public and stakeholder consultation.

The following works will be completed as part of Phase 2:

• Continued work on the final drafts of the Town Official Plan and Colchester Secondary Plan – through upcoming Open Houses in June 2026 and a Public Meeting in the Summer of 2026.
  
  
• Approval of the New Town Official Plan and Colchester Secondary Plan and Schedules in Fall 2026.”