The Town of Hinton was recently recognized with an award of excellence for its Integrated Housing Strategy.

The award was presented by the Alberta Professional Planners Institute during the Conference Planning Awards, held Oct. 17.

Hinton began developing its housing strategy in 2009, in response to the need for adequate and suitable housing to meet the community’s social, cultural and environmental needs.

Jean Anne Fraser, director of planning and technical services, said the report, developed by ParioPlan – a consulting firm that specializes in municipal, urban and rural planning – provides the town with a 10-year strategy that addresses the future housing needs of the community.

“The premise of this strategy is to ensure we are providing attainable housing for all our population – the entire housing spectrum – and to ensure that we are offering a variety of housing options to achieve affordability,” she said.

Fraser said to have the plan recognized by a provincial organization is a wonderful achievement for the municipality.

“This is a great recognition for our community for two reasons: firstly, the work and plan is being acknowledged for its creativity and innovation for housing solutions – and this is excellent,” she said. “Secondly, typically, this type of award is generally granted to larger urban centres, so for Hinton to receive this honour certainly highlights our progressiveness, ingenuity, and our commitment to attainable housing for all.”

As of December 2010, the average cost of a single-family home in Hinton was approximately $336,000. In 2006, the average price was $247,800.

Fraser said the municipality recognized the rapidly increasing prices as an issue, created the strategy and now they’re implementing some of the suggestions made in the report, which was adopted by council May 18, 2010.

So far, council has made amendments to land use bylaws and the Municipal Development Plan to include regulations that reflect the new strategy. Fraser said the amendments deal with things like secondary suites, garden suites, live-work units and student and co-op housing.

The town has also created a “Housing Team,” which is comprised of various town staff and representatives from the community, to discuss housing issues and to come up with solutions.

But the most tangible response to the need for affordable housing in Hinton was the construction of the 50-unit Happy Creek Estates affordable housing project, which was built in partnership with the province and private sector.

Fraser said there are also many projects currently in the works, like homes built by Habitat for Humanity and a group home. The town will also soon be sending out requests for proposals for mixed-use, mixed-age and mixed-income housing.