Non-profit seeks inputs for Brandon’s sustainable future

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This article was published 05/02/2025 (275 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Sustainable Brandon — a volunteer-driven and non-profit organization — is inviting local residents to come up with ideas about the next steps it should take in its mission to make the Wheat City more environmentally conscious.

New and current members are welcome to attend Sustainable Brandon’s upcoming Annual General Meeting (AGM) scheduled for Feb. 11 in the Louis Riel Room at Brandon University. The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m., said Madelyn Robinson, Sustainable Brandon’s chair.

“It’s a call to action for people to come and give us their input,” she said, adding, “What kind of skills and experience do you have that can help bring Brandon into a more sustainable future?”

The mission statement of the organization, which was created in 2021, includes encouraging Brandonites and its leaders to address the current climate crisis and move toward a more sustainable future.

It must be in ways that benefits everyone, and shelters the marginalized and most vulnerable from the worst impacts of climate change.

“We’re trying to make sure that as well as clean air, clean water and green space, that we’re using energy efficiently and in the best way possible. Our plan is to eventually move off fossil fuels,” Robinson said.

Through a partnership with Manitoba’s Climate Action Team (CAT), Sustainable Brandon had secured grants that were used in the installation of solar panels at the Riverbank Discovery Centre at a cost of $50,000.

An additional $7,500 the group acquired went to The City of Brandon Parks Department and the Brandon School Division, to buy and place bike racks in parks and at schools.

And one of the current projects that Sustainable Brandon “is monitoring in real time,” is a proposed development near 90 acres of wetland in the city’s southwest, which is slated for a large business operation, said Quentin Robinson — Madelyn’s husband — who is also a member of the non-profit.

“The plan is what the developer is calling a regional retail power centre with big box stores,” Quentin said, “that’s another Corral Centre.”

The area is just west of 18th Street and south of Patricia Avenue, said Quentin, who has concerns that the proposed development is too close to the wetland, Quentin said.

“It’s not just a marshy spot,” he said, “there’s a big area in the middle that has open water almost year-round. This is a massive geographical feature and is an ecological refuge for the whole ecosystem that resides in and around it.”

“So, we are monitoring the situation to make sure the wetland is not encroached upon in any way,” he said.

It’s these types of environmental actions and decisions that Sustainable Brandon needs more inputs on. That means having more members, Madelyn said.

She is the chair of the management team, which can be characterized as a board of directors. Sustainable Brandon currently has 10 team members, with room for two more.

Referring to members at large, Madelyn said, “There are about 20, who have paid their dues, at $5 each, and attend meetings when they can.”

Sustainable Brandon has tried to keep “flexible for its members,” Robinson added, holding meetings on a Tuesday during one month, and switching to a Wednesday during the next — hoping to catch people when they are available.

The AGM and the call to action, Robinson pointed out, is a way to get everybody on the same page at the same time.

“Because everybody’s priority is different. I might say, I want us to get off fossil fuels, but someone else will say they want a good transportation system, others will want to protect that wetland, and more will want to make sure that people living on the streets have affordable housing.”

“So, where do we want to go first? Do we want to keep working on all those, or do we want to have just one big project?”

“That’s why we need input.”

For more information about Sustainable Brandon’s AGM on Feb. 11, email bdnclimateaction@gmail.com.

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