"Currently, land-use planning is only conducted in municipalities that have an official plan (i.e. the larger urban ones). This covers about 10% of the Island land mass. This may increase as the
Municipal Government Act is fully implemented and all municipalities are required to conduct land-use planning. Even with this, however, close to 70% of the Island (and 30% of the population) is outside of municipalities and will not be covered by municipal planning.
Land-use planning affects the province’s ability to tackle various challenges, including climate change, infrastructure, agriculture, environmental protection, economic development, housing, and others. The absence of land-use planning in the vast majority of PEI is an underlying cause of many of the challenges facing the province today. Several major reports dating back 50 years, and most recently the 2021 Land Matters report, have all unequivocally said that PEI needs to institute land-use planning Island-wide.
Staff in the Department of Agriculture and Land said during a Standing Committee hearing last year province-wide this can be done within 2 to 3 years.
We will also follow the Land Matters recommendation to “immediately implement province-wide interim regulations to further regulate subdivision and development in areas without an official plan until a province-wide land use planning framework is adopted.” — peigreens.ca backgrounder, 2023-03-14
Increase the amount of protected natural areas
Make land ownership and purchases more transparent
"In order for Islanders to have confidence that the Lands Protection Act is being properly enforced it is important for land ownership and purchases to be transparent. A Green Government will explore various avenues to increase transparency including:
● Releasing the report on the Brendel Farms land purchase.
● Giving IRAC the final decision on land purchases, instead of Cabinet, and increasing the transparency of IRAC’s decisions and investigations.
● Making the registry of deeds online and searchable.
Mandate the commission to make ongoing assessments of current policy to protect land, and recommend new policy approaches
"Mandate the commission to undertake ongoing assessments of the effectiveness of the current policy and regulatory framework to achieves land protection objectives and, where required, recommend new policy and regulatory approaches." — Healthcare First: An Action Plan for Islanders, 2023-03-22
Ensure meaningful public participation when assessing environmental impacts
Amend the Lands Protection Act
"Work to amend the Lands Protection Act, to protect our natural environment against further questionable commercial encroachment." — NDP Platform 2023, 2023-03-09
Renew legislating protecting species at risk, and update the current list of species
"Renew legislation to protect species at risk, ensuring that the current list of species is complete" — NDP Platform 2023, 2023-03-09