Pam Duesling is ready to get to work in Pelham.
“I think there's a great opportunity with farm diversification and different unique agricultural development experiences, and I'm hopeful to bring some of that to the municipality, and there's lots of room for, I think, infill and intensification in Fonthill and Fenwick,” she said last Thursday, July 11, after she was named Pelham’s Director of Community Planning and Development.
Duesling said she is well positioned – coming from a farming family herself – to shepherd development in the town, balancing urban and rural needs.
“I think Pelham has great policies and processes, and I'm just looking forward to coming in, bringing my experience, and helping take them forward in next steps,” she said. “There's a lot of changes coming forward from the Province, so I'm hopeful to bring some of those new policy regimes forward and enhance the strong backbone that Pelham already has.”
While she may be new to Pelham, Duesling is a known quantity to Chief Administrative Officer David Cribbs. The pair worked together when both were employed by Norfolk County. Currently Duesling is Brant’s general manager of development services, similar to a role she held in Norfolk County and one she was appointed to by Cribbs.
Duesling’s appointment comes quickly after her predecessor, Barb Weins, was relieved of her duties last month. Cribbs said it was important that the position be filled quickly, calling it a “critical role” for the Town.
“We just felt we had to push forward.”
Duesling’s responsibilities will include development review and compliance functions, building services review and approvals, land use policy development and implementation, zoning bylaw review and implementation, heritage planning, and municipal drainage.
She comes to the Town at the time that it is in the process of implementing a new cannabis control bylaw. The bylaw would establish where cannabis facilities can operate, and other things such as setbacks from sensitive land uses, homes, and roads. It was the subjected of a heated public meeting at the Meridian Community Centre last month.
She’s faced similar issues in her past work.
“I’ve got some experience from Norfolk County with cannabis and greenhouse operations so I can bring some of that experience with me to Pelham,” Duesling said.
Once she begins her new job, she said the door always will be open to residents who want to talk about their development concerns.
“I'm looking forward to chatting with and working with community groups and bringing their wants and needs forward as part of the community,” she said.
Duesling completed her Ph.D. thesis in rural planning from the University of Guelph last year and said she feels the research she did in earning her doctorate will stand her in good stead in her Pelham role.
“It was on balancing, diversification and the preservation of agricultural lands and I did quite a bit of research in the Niagara region,” she said. “There are great opportunities for different agricultural and tourism opportunities in Pelham so I'm looking, really looking forward to that.”
In addition to her Ph.D., Duesling also holds an Honours Bachelor of Environmental Studies in Urban and Regional Planning, a Master of Applied Environmental Studies in Local Economic Development from the University of Waterloo, a Diploma in Public Administration from Western University, and a Masters Certificate in Municipal Leadership from the Schulich Executive Education Centre at York University.
Cribbs, meanwhile, said the Duesling will be a great fit for the Town.
“She is the perfect synthesis of what the Town of Pelham is,” he said.
And for her part, Duesling is looking forward to the challenge.
“I'm just really excited about the opportunity,” she said. “I think it's a beautiful community, and I'm looking forward to the new adventure.”
Duesling’s first day on the job will be July 29.
