Are you proud of any photos you’ve taken in town in recent years? If so, you may want to contribute some for the Town’s Master Plan. If not, maybe you’ll feel inspired to break out your camera (or smart phone).
The Southborough Master Plan Committee has put out a call for contributed photos. They are looking for:
Any pictures taken in Southborough, of you, your family, landscapes, nature, wildlife, forests, trails, open space, flowers, native pollinators, gardens, historic buildings, scenic vistas or roads, activities you enjoy doing in town, etc.
The images will be used in the Town’s Master Plan. The document is meant to be used by Town officials for planning purposes, “to guide the growth and development of a community”.
The new version to be published in time for Annual Town Meeting (May 5th) will replace the last one finalized in 2008. This one is titled “Southborough 2030 – A Great Place to Live”. The document:
provides guidance to local officials when they are making decisions on budgets, capital improvements, zoning, and prioritizing projects. The plan helps communities create a vision of what they want to look like in the future.
Chapters of the document cover:
- Land Use & Zoning
- Housing
- Economic Development
- Open Space, Natural Resources & Recreation
- Circulation & Transportation
- Natural, Historic & Community Resources
- Public Services, Resiliency & Schools
- Southborough’s Villages
The deadline for photo submissions is Sunday, March 27th. The announcement asks those interested to submit no more than five pictures per person. (They can be submitted via multiple emails.) Photo credits will be given. Please be sure to have permission of any subjects included in the pictures.
Note:
By submitting your photos, you grant permission to the Southborough Master Plan Committee to use your photographs in publications, news releases, online, and in other communications related to the mission of the Master Plan Committee.
Email your contributions to Kathryn at kmckee@southboroughma.com.
The Master Plan Committee has been working on updating the plan since 2019. The large group involved includes representatives from a slew of boards and committees, plus some “At-Large” members.
In fall 2019, they solicited public input on what the Town’s vision should be through a special open house, then followed up with a survey in the spring of 2020.
Since then, they’ve continued to meet regularly to discuss updating the plan. (It looks like over 35 meetings over the past three years.)
You can learn more about their work here. And you can view their meetings (at least since they went remote in spring 2020) here.
