Islands Trust Policy Statement Educational Mailout

Extracted text (beginning)

Share Your Views
PRESERVING AND PROTECTING OVER 
450 ISLANDS AND SURROUNDING 
WATERS IN THE SALISH SEA
on the  
Draft Islands Trust  
Policy Statement
Where can I learn more about the  
draft Policy Statement?
Read more online at:  
www.islandstrust.bc.ca/programs/islands-2050/ 
What is Islands Trust? 
Islands Trust is a special-purpose government responsible for planning and land use 
management decisions in the Islands Trust Area, which is comprised of 13 major islands 
and more than 450 smaller islands and the surrounding waters in the Strait of Georgia 
and Howe Sound. 
Islands Trust was created in 1974 through the Islands Trust Act with a legislated 
mandate (object):
The object of the trust is to preserve and protect the Trust Area and its unique amenities 
and environment for the benefit of the residents of the Trust Area, and of British 
Columbia generally, in cooperation with municipalities, regional districts, improvement 
districts, First Nations, other persons and organizations and the government of British 
Columbia. 
How will the draft Policy Statement impact me?
The Islands Trust Policy Statement is not a set of regulations. It does not change 
how land in the Islands Trust Area may be used under existing regulations. The Policy 
Statement contains policies that local trust committees and island municipalities will 
use to guide decisions about future policy and regulatory change at the local level, and 
that Island Trust Council will use it to guide decisions at a regional level.
The Policy Statement may affect how land in the Islands Trust Area can be used in the 
future when a local trust committee or island municipality amends its bylaws to bring 
official community plans and land use bylaws into alignment with the goals of the 
Policy Statement.
Does the draft Policy Statement enable the 
Islands Trust to preserve and protect the 
natural environment?
While the draft Policy Statement includes policies meant to help address community 
challenges related to housing, it retains its focus on protecting the ecosystems of the 
Islands Trust Area. 
How will the draft Policy Statement help with 
housing challenges on the islands?
The draft Policy Statement offers support for islands to move beyond the large single-
detached dwellings that characterize most of the current housing stock toward a range 
of housing types that better reflect today’s affordability challenges and the diverse 
needs within island communities. 
What is the Policy Statement?
The Islands Trust Policy Statement is a document required by provincial legislation that sets 
out the Islands Trust Council’s principles and its policy framework for planning and land use 
management within the lands and waters of the Island Trust Area. 
It guides the development of the official community plans and land use bylaws of 
local trust committees and Bowen Island Municipality, and the development of Trust 
Council’s Strategic Plan. 
It is the guiding document that Trust Council 

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