Community Task Force on Housing
In light of present and predicted limitations on community engagement and gathering during the Covid-19 Pandemic, the Task Force has decided to officially cease meeting. Instead, members will get involved in a range of activities that move housing issues forward. Please see the July 15, 2020 Meeting Notes at the bottom of this page for details.
Group Mission:
The focus of the work of the Peterborough Community Task Force on Housing is to design and carry out a community-based process for gathering input from a majority of residents and stakeholders of Peterborough about their concerns, hopes, needs and wants for short and long term housing policy. It is expected that this input will ultimately be used to inform the process of updating the town’s Master Plan chapter on housing which will ultimately provide guidance to the town’s Planning Board, as it works to revise the town’s zoning ordinances to meet future needs.
The group will engage in a process that allows them to experience a number of methods whereby community input may be gathered. These methods may become part of the design used to engage the larger community in issues around housing. To that end, the Task Force will :
1- Work to strengthen trust and communication within the Task Force and between the Task Force and the larger community. To do this, we will engage in and learn the restorative process of conversation as described in Peter Block’s “Community: The Structure of Belonging” and as facilitated by Lee Rush. (October 2019 and throughout process)
2- Participate in learning opportunities, structured reading, and research assignments to come to a common base-line understanding of issues, trends and terms related to housing in our region and community, such that members are informed sufficiently to engage the larger community. (November 2019 - January 2020)*
3- Once the first two objectives have been sufficiently achieved, design a process by which the task force will engage the larger community to hear what its needs, wants and concerns are related to housing in our community. This process may include large community gatherings with impartial facilitators, neighborhood meetings, door to door canvassing, surveys and other vetted processes known to be effective. (February - April 2020)*
4- Participate in and support the larger community engagement process as designed by the Task Force. (May-September 2020)*
5- Summarize the input from the Community Engagement process into a document usable by the Master Plan Steering Committee. (October- December 2020)*
* NOTE: Please note that original time frames will need to be adjusted due to the Covid-19 Pandemic.
Contact:
For any questions regarding the Community Task Force on Housing, please contact Karen Hatcher, Chair: khatcher at peterboroughnh.gov
Meeting Information:
The Community Task Force on Housing has been meeting roughly once a month since October 2019, at varying locations. All meetings are open to the public.
Minutes, Video Links, and Viewpoints:
Meetings by Zoom during Covid-19