City of Pickering Official Plan- Edition 6

improving our understanding of, respect for, and
connections with our heritage, landscape, and
evolving culture.
In using the term evolving culture, “culture” refers to the
collective knowledge, customs and arts of the wide and
growing diversity of cultures that exist in Pickering.
People have both rights as individuals, and responsibilities as
members of a community. For a community to function
effectively and equitably over the long term, a perceived
“right” of an individual or group cannot take precedence
over a legitimate, identified need of the community. An
appropriate balance must be struck between supporting
individual rights and upholding community interests. To do
this requires:
Principle 3: To support
individual rights while
upholding community
goals.
defining the City’s goals and objectives clearly,
and in consultation with concerned and interested
members of the community;
encouraging and ensuring that individuals and
groups manage their affairs consistent with the
community’s goals and objectives;
protecting the rights of all members of the
community to safety, security, privacy, and
freedom of expression;
equitably sharing community benefits, costs,
obligations and responsibilities; and
promoting opportunities for people of the
community to interact in positive, mutuallysupportive
ways.
As multi-cultural societies such as ours evolve, there is an
increasing need to broaden the range of choices and
opportunities available to people. Yet, as change occurs,
and choices and opportunities diversify, there is also an
increasing need to ensure that the City’s local context is
respected, and is potentially enhanced, as it evolves over
time. Pickering’s “local context” includes its history,
physical setting, and development pattern. To protect and
enhance local context requires:
Principle 4: To welcome
diversity while respecting
local context.
PICKERING OFFICIAL PLAN EDITION 6: Chapter One -- Guiding Principles 15