Village of Dunnottar

Sustainability is the importance of caring for the environment while promoting a more responsible and ethical way of living and conducting business. 

The Village of Dunnottar created the current Sustainability Committee in June 2024.

The purpose of this Committee is to identify, encourage and support sustainable practices, initiatives and projects for the Village. This means working with established groups to support projects and to promote and assist with projects brought forward by residents. 

Committee highlights of 2025: Starting strong

• Our committee presented its first Annual Report to Council in late 2024. 
• Throughout 2025, the Sustainability Committee met monthly in-person on Zoom, with additional meetings as required to plan our larger events.   
• We created a Sustainability Committee Page on the Village website, and the Dunnottar Sustainability Group on Facebook to interact and share news.  
• We contacted many community groups for input, and in June we worked jointly with Age Friendly Dunnottar to host a Community Group Volunteer Expo. Ten community groups from the Village had information tables with presentations.   It was great for all of us to meet each other, find out about volunteer opportunities, and learn what each group brings to the Village.
• Our final community event of the year was the Committee’s first Annual General Meeting held on August 23, 2025 at the Ponemah Beach Central to a full house!
  • During the meeting, we held elections. We were pleased to announce and welcome our new members Brad Minnis, Catherine Sproat, Leigh Patterson, Harlee Ostash and John Dojack, who joined second year members Rosemary Miguez, Ken Moore, Wendy Buelow, with Janice Thevenot as Council Liaison. 

• We are grateful to all the community members who came out to the meeting and participated. 
• A big thank you to Florence Eastwood who has done so much for this committee as secretary and who has stepped down effective November 2025.

Looking ahead to 2026/27: Continuing our momentum

Currently we are working to update the 2018 Integrated Community Sustainability Plan (ICSP) and identify projects for Council consideration to initiate in 2026 and 2027. Updating the ICSP will also involve a community meeting to gather new ideas and review past actions. As well, we hope to have public information sessions on important community sustainability issues.

Please feel free to contact the Committee at sustainvod@gmail.com with questions and concerns.

Village of Dunnottar: A model of community sustainability

The work of the Sustainability Committee (Sustain VOD) is guided by the document created in 2018 after community consultations, and we encourage all Villagers to read the document. The plan is based on the following four pillars:

1. Environmental
2. Socio-Cultural
3. Community alignment/partnering
4. Economic

Sustainability in the Village means more than caring for the environment and the lake: it means supporting a thriving community with social and physical well-being, supporting a community that participates in the arts, and values history and culture.

The Mayor and Council will carry out actions within the ICSP, including future planning and revisions, within the spirit of reconciliation with Indigenous People. Indigenous People encompasses First Nations, Metis and Inuit, who have all been affected by Residential Schools and colonization. This will be done with openness to understanding and sharing local regional truths.

More examples of our Village as a sustainability leader:  

• The Village of Dunnottar is the birthplace of the Lake Winnipeg Foundation. Founded in 2004, the founding members include Anne Dougherty, Joy McLean, Barbara Oberding, Lyle Lockhart, Bruce Smith, Robin Mather, Don Winstone, Art Chipman, Mayor Rick Gamble, and Bill Percy.
• Spirit Park (Railway St @ Tugela Creek) acknowledges former resident Linda Parks for her work within the Royal Bank to create an Aboriginal funds program.
• The Village of Dunnottar utilizes a passive filtration system for wastewater. This technology is low maintenance and low cost but provides similar benefits to a wastewater treatment plant.
• The Village of Dunnottar has a demonstration solar installation at the municipal office. The municipal office carport isn't just for parking-- it generates enough energy to power the administration office. 

The Village has two electric vehicle chargers: A level 2 charger located at Ponemah Beach Central on Central Avenue and a level 3 charger on Gimli Road .

Dunnottar has a bird sanctuary, named "Dunnottar's Little Green Space" by birder Charlie McPherson and Mayor Rick Gamble. This is a block of special wetland habitat located at the northeast corner of the Village in Ponemah, at Division Rd and Laurel. It hosts summer birds, but is especially good for migrating warblers in the spring. Come, relax at the new picnic table, and bring your binoculars.