There is no bigger issue facing our region than change. All our towns have experienced remarkable change and growth during the past two decades and it seems to be increasing exponentially.

Farms and woods have become house lots and developments, summer homes are converted into year-round homes. Commercial development has become dominated by franchises with little, if any, local connection. Our access to the natural environment is becoming ever more limited and our environment is becoming more and more vulnerable. Growth, in and of itself, is not a culprit. However, unrestrained and without guidance it can decimate a community visually, economically and spiritually.

The individuals and businesses behind growth will – in the vast majority of cases – act responsibly, but they need guidance. It is up to a community to give it. This guidance is a collective articulation of a community’s needs and values that is enacted through the legislative process. It is about common understandings gained through asking the right questions, probing for answers and coming up with common language. Many of the issues we face can be dealt with when we are able to move beyond assumptions and into a realm of commonly understood meanings.

A few months ago members of the now terminated PRIORITY Task Force in Windham had a discussion about what a farm was. It was much maligned by the council and part of the justification in terminating the task force. On the face it may seem like a nonsensical discussion, however, in the context of zoning and ordnance changes, it is exactly the kind of discussion that a community such as this must have. Many of the Lakes Region’s communities face similar issues and need to come to common understandings.

Our world and our communities are not the same as they were 20 or 30 years ago. Commerce is transformed, communication is revolutionized, our environmental awareness has greatly evolved, notions of community is more varied than it ever has been, and our educational challenges in a complex world are immense. Whether we choose to recognize it, our communities are swept up in a tremendous tide of change. So, do we collectively guide these changes relative to expressed values and priorities or do we accept what occurs without question no matter the outcome. I would suggest that the former is a preferable, otherwise we will become what we have all hoped not to be. Communities that lack identity have lost values and are indistinguishable from any one of thousands of suburban communities.

To the end of preserving identity and strengthening community through common goals, communities have developed and adopted, through a participatory public process, comprehensive plans. As with any such plan, they are seldom perfect by any one individual perspective but in general they offer a very good set of common goals for a community. It is critical that these are respected by elected officials for the comprehensive plan is a constant that exists beyond the transient nature of elected leadership. These need to be referred to by community leaders and implemented as best as possible. A comprehensive plan is a road map for the future course of a community and how the forces of change should be managed.

Windham as other communities, has such a plan. It speaks to many issues: residential density, natural resource preservation, recreational opportunities, commercial development, etc. It views the community as it is, and how it should evolve into the future. It is a primary tool for community self-determination. Like most tools, however, it is only as good as the will to use it. It demands broad rather than selective participation, an ability to gain common understanding of the issues, and a willingness to look beyond our own practices.

Leadership must take a long view at the inevitable changes facing a community. It must act in a way that responds to needs and opportunities today with a vision for and responsibility toward our community many years from now. Our communities deserve nothing less and as citizens we should expect and demand nothing less from our leaders.

Michael Shaughnessy lives in Windham.