Middlesex has a new community action group
MIDDLESEX TWP — As the township changes rapidly, a recently-established group of residents wants to make sure that the change is carried out responsibly.
That group is Middlesex Community Action, a like-minded group of individuals who are looking to influence township policy like similar community groups across Pennsylvania. The group is led by Peter Walker, who is also vice president of the Glade Run Lake Conservancy.
Walker promoted the group during a supervisors meeting on Wednesday, June 18.
“Middlesex is changing so quickly … and almost all of that growth is new housing,” Walker told the Butler Eagle. “And so the question is, do you want the township to be in control of that change, or do you want the developers to be in control?”
Walker says that the purpose of the community action group is to assist the township government in bringing attention to all of the matters that they may not be able to be aware of on their own and to align township policy with the comprehensive plan that was adopted last year.
“The way our normal government works, you’ve got these elected supervisors who don't get paid. They’re voluntary,” Walker said. “And they have virtually no way of actually knowing what’s going on in a township that’s growing and changing like ours. But if you’ve got a group of people who want to do something for their community … I think you get a much more transparent and representative government.”
According to the text of township’s comprehensive plan, which was approved last June, the township’s population has grown by 32% since 2010, while the number of households has grown by 29%. This is due in large part to an increase in planned residential developments, such as Weatherburn Heights, and more are either on the drawing board or under construction.
“We don’t want to stop development, but we want to have smarter development,” Walker said. “So less of these PRDs (planned residential developments), more thoughtfulness about how we preserve some of the land.”
Peter Walker was a member of the 11-person “steering committee” that helped drive the direction of the comprehensive plan. His main concern is ensuring that future township policies align with the plan that he assisted with creating.
“What really worried us was, nothing was happening. The plan had been passed, but we weren’t seeing any changes,” Walker said. “The plan is great, it says all the right things, but I’d say it’s aspirational. It says what we’d like to see, but it doesn’t say how to make it happen.”
The group intends to directly affect change by working closely with the township’s five-member planning commission to advise them on the drafting of future ordinances.
According to Walker, the group has been in the works for roughly six months, and has already accrued between 70 and 75 interested members. There is even a website for the group, www.mca.land. Those who are interested in joining can fill out a contact form on the website.
“We’ve had a number of formal meetings to really try and flesh out what sort of mission statement the group should have, and what sort of activities we should carry out,” Walker said. “We’ve got a group of more than nine people who have volunteered to work closely with the planning commission to help them draft new ordinances.”
