The Master Plan Steering Committee met on Oct. 16 to review progress on four upcoming chapters of the Master Plan and consider insights from the latest community survey.
“Tonight is our regroup, it’s our strategizing, it’s staking out our plan of action for the next few months,” said Suzanne Nienaber of the Southern New Hampshire Planning Commission (SNHPC). “There will probably be at least one meeting with the Planning Board as well.”
Cam Prolman, another SNHPC representative, presented “big picture findings” from the second Master Plan survey.
“We had 658 responses from residents and business owners. The topics in this survey covered natural resources, transportation, and economics,” he explained. “What we heard was that there’s a strong desire to protect Londonderry’s water resources, forests, and farmland. Respondents said that preservation was seen as essential to maintaining the town’s rural character. There was support for voluntary conservation tools such as easements or incentives over regulatory mandates.”
A recurring concern was the pace of development in Londonderry, with many respondents emphasizing the need to balance economic growth with maintaining town character.
“Here’s a couple of questions: How should Londonderry balance growth and conservation? What types of tools or partnerships could best protect water and land resources?” asked Prolman, encouraging Committee members to reflect on these issues as they work through the remaining chapters.
Traffic congestion and road safety also ranked high among public concerns.
“The roads are seen as unsafe for non-drivers – that was question 14 – and 74% of respondents felt roads were unsafe for non-drivers. There was interest in expanding access to parks and trails through safer walking and biking routes,” said Prolman. “There’s also limited awareness and use of local transit options that are available in Londonderry.”
Survey results showed strong interest in improving mobility for seniors, young residents, and those without private vehicles. Respondents also favored small businesses over large chains, while business owners expressed a desire for a more streamlined permitting process.
“The survey to me, personally, just nailed everything we’ve been talking about that people are concerned about,” said Committee member Bob Robicsek, noting that these topics have surfaced repeatedly in Steering Committee discussions.
“These people know what they’re talking about,” added Committee member Marge Badois. “They know it has accelerated greatly in the recent past. Everybody sees it, feels it, knows it.”
Resident Ray Breslin called the process “highly important,” especially given Londonderry’s recent and projected population growth.
“We’re playing catch-up, a lot of things that were not done in the past, now we’re dealing with,” said Breslin. “All of you folks have the ability to bring this forward. Perhaps you don’t have the ability to make the final decisions, but you have the ability to influence those that do.”
Looking ahead to an early 2026 completion date, Nienaber proposed changes to the Steering Committee’s structure and operations.
“We’re going to ask this group to bring full participation to own this product, to take full participation of the process,” she said. “We’ll have a much-called – let’s call it an ‘executive committee’ for lack of a better word – where we will get together 10 days before each meeting to prep, talk about the materials needed, and really make sure that we are all on the same page.”
She urged members to pre-read materials to “maximize efficiency” and minimize what she called “wordsmithing problems,” or disagreements over phrasing.