People Plan Toronto (PPT) is an ad hoc committee comprised of representatives from a number of residents' associations across the city. PPT believes that Toronto's planning process has become unwieldy, overcomplicated, and far too removed from the citizens it is meant to serve. The Neighbourhood Planning Summit is intended to give communities from across Toronto an opportunity to share information, learn some basics, and put their heads together to come up with solutions and an active plan for change.

Overall conclusions from their 2008 Forum series: by: Dina Graser, Active 18 Association

• citizens feel cut out of the planning process; they don't understand it.
• consultation is too little and, often, too late
• the planning dept is understaffed and overwhelmed - a major overhaul is required
• the OMB regularly overrules decisions of the elected city council
• We need to reform the planning process

Their recommendations:

• strike a City Task Force to recommend ways in which citizens can more effectively be engaged in the process
• we need more Secondary Plans to "fill in the blanks" where there is no detailed guidance re: what developers can and can't do under the Official Plan
• establish community review boards to review neighbourhood development in line with Secondary Plans
• abolish the OMB's jurisdiction over Toronto planning decisions
• better inform and educate communities about the process - this could be done by the city, by making materials available in layman's language, and should also be done by groups like PPT and FoNTRA.

 
Notes and Summaries from 2008 Forum Series:

• Etobicoke Forum

• North Toronto Forum

• Scarborough Forum

• St.Lawrence Forum

• Table of Obstacles and Opportunities