Planning Board member proposes “Wareham Congress”

Aug 27, 2019

Because Wareham has so many disparate boards, commissions, authorities, and other people and groups with the authority to make decisions, it can sometimes seem like groups are working at cross-purposes. 

At a recent Planning Board meeting, board member Marc Bianco said he felt that the Planning Board was often acting in a purely reactionary capacity to the projects proposed to the board, rather than acting as a body that could proactively plan.

Many casual conversations and meeting discussions culminated in a presentation on Monday night by Planning Board and Redevelopment Authority member Richard Swenson with an idea to fix this lack of communication: a Wareham Congress.

The Congress would be led by the Planning Board and convene quarterly public meetings of all of the boards together.

Swenson said that the meetings would focus on Wareham’s Master Plan, which has been in the works for several years.

The Master Plan is a document that lays out a vision and policy guide for the town over the years to come, but it does not include any bylaws or regulations. Instead, it outlines the priorities and goals that all the agencies across town should be working towards.

Additionally, the Master Plan is not a static document. Almost anyone -- a town official, a board or commission, or a citizen -- can propose an amendment to the plan, which would be approved (or not) by the Planning Board.

Swenson said that implementing the Master Plan would give agencies shared priorities, and the proposed Wareham Congress would give all the agencies a dedicated time to demonstrate their work in alignment with the plan, time to strategize and set priorities, and share what work has been done.