The City establishes Advisory Committees (ACs) to advise and assist the City’s Standing Committees and City Council on issues related to important municipal subject areas which are of interest to the general public and/or key interest groups. Advisory Committee members are volunteers, with expertise, knowledge or demonstrated interest and involvement in the Committee’s subject areas. Appointments to ACs are made through an application and interview process and are approved by the appropriate Standing Committee and City Council. ACs receive City staff support and entertain presentations from experts and practitioners in their subject areas as well as from the general public. They meet up to 12 times a year and most have between 9 and 15 members.

Over the past few months, the following six Advisory Committees, with mandates directly related to significant Lansdowne issues, have reviewed the Lansdowne proposals and taken positions making clear their strong reservations about them.  

Arts, Heritage and Culture Advisory Committee

Environmental Advisory Committee

Health and Social Services Advisory Committee

Ottawa Forests and Greenspace Advisory Committee

Pedestrian and Transit Advisory Committee

Roads and Cycling Advisory Committee

Heritage Ottawa Press Release

Ottawa, May 27 2010 - It is the heritage of Lansdowne Park that is its value - historic, cultural and commercial. The City and OSEG, the developers, have prescribed a future Lansdowne that squanders that value to car parks, bad faith and damaged history.

The centrepiece of Lansdowne Park is the Aberdeen Pavilion and the Horticulture Building opposite its main facade. Both are designated heritage buildings. The Aberdeen Pavilion is subject to easements that severely restrict alterations to the building or interference with the site lines that lend distinction to Lansdowne Park and make a landmark from vantage points around the city.

The City of Ottawa Advisory Committee on Pedestrian and Vehicular Traffic is opposed to the Lansdowne Partnership Plan.

With statistical proof, the recent resolution of this committee states that Bank Street and the Queen Elizabeth Driveway do not have the capacity to accommodate the proposed additional traffic generated on a day to day basis at peak hours. This committee recommends that the City of Ottawa adhere to its Transportation Master Plan to minimize the use of private vehicles and to protect the health of its citizens from the threat of increased traffic congestion and gas emissions.

Furthermore, this official advisory committee, with the authority of its well-defined mandate, directs the City of Ottawa to do a comprehensive safety impact study on increased truck traffic, emergency, fire and protective services and the resource requirements for the safety of its citizens on the streets and walkways. The directive states that the safety impact study has to be done prior to proceeding with the Lansdowne Partnership Plan.