Over the next year the Seychelles Planning Authority will be leading the production of a Strategic Plan for the country. The purpose of the Plan is to articulate a clear vision and strategy for the future of Seychelles including how places within the country will develop. In doing so, it will set the urban development framework for sustainable growth of Seychelles up to 2040. Once established, the Plan will inform decision making, development and investment and will provide clarity, direction and confidence moving forward.
The Plan is being prepared through a collaborative approach which utilises local knowledge and involves the community at each phase of the project so that it reflects and incorporates a diverse range of priorities.
The characteristics of Seychelles need to be understood so that they inform the vision and strategy for the country. We are therefore undertaking engagement with the community to make sure we understand what is important to them.
As part of the collaborative approach and to ensure a robust evidence base a series of community consultations was undertaken to inform the development of the Plan.
Public consultation was conducted in three phases on Mahe, Praslin and La Digue as follow:
Phase 1: September/October 2014
The purpose of the first phase of consultation, held in September/October 2014, was to build understanding of the Plan and let the community know how they can inform its development. This first phase of consultation also sought to identify key issues in local areas that the community would like to be addressed by the Plan, as well as priority opportunities. The comments received focused around the following key themes: economy; housing; community facilities; transport; utilities; and the environment.
This first phase of consultation provided valuable information about issues and opportunities the community considered particularly important. All comments raised by participants at the drop-in events were recorded by the project team, were summarised in a report on community consultation and where appropriate, informed the next stage of the project.
Phase 2: January/ February 2015
The second phase of consultation was held in January/February 2015. This consultation aimed to gather community views on the initial proposals for Seychelles and emerging proposals for the Masterplan. Comments were received on: the potential locations for additional housing, employment space and associated services; community facility proposals; agricultural proposals; the strategic and public transport proposals; and the tourism offer. Participants also provided feedback on four aspects of the emerging Masterplan: public realm and design; open space; retail and services; and accessing the waterfront.
As per phase 1 community consultation, all comments raised by participants at the drop-in events were recorded by the project team, were summarised in a report on community consultation and where appropriate, informed the development of the draft Seychelles Strategic Land Use and Development Plan and the Victoria Masterplan.
Phase 3: August 2015
The third phase of community consultation took place over a two week period, from Monday 17 August to Friday 28 August 2015 and provided communities on Mahé, Praslin and La Digue the opportunity to provide feedback. The purpose of the community engagement was to:
- publicise the draft Plans;
- present the key aspects of the draft Plans with particular focus on key projects identified in the Masterplan; and
- receive final comments on key elements of the Plans, which will then be considered and amendments to the Plans made accordingly. The methods used to promote the events and the ways in which the community could possibly provide comments on the draft Plans is set out in the public consultation report – phase 3.
