The Law of regional development stipulates that a development program must define the local government’s development priorities. The local government of Babīte rural municipality has defined four strategic directions of development for the following 12 years, including provision of support to ensure that more new families enter the rural municipality and the number of people able to work does not decrease. For this reason, the local government is getting ready to modernise the existing residential areas and facilitate building of new homes for people with various levels of income.To create new work places, the local government is planning to develop specialised food production in the rural municipality, services, traditional and non-traditional farming, e.g. cranberry growing, which could be one way of using the marshy territories, as well as tourism business. Support has been expressed for production units using high technologies.“Babīte rural municipality territorial development program will serve as a guideline in preparation of the annual budget, and we will also be able to use it to obtain co-financing for specific goals both from structural funds in Europe, and in Latvia,” says Andrejs Ence, Babīte rural municipality council chairman. “As it is important for Babīte rural municipality to maintain sustainable spatial development and tidy, safe and healthy living environment, the development program will help the local government coordinate the plans of developers and businesspersons with specific goals. It means, for instance, coordination of building expansion and economic development with the need to preserve fresh air and the possibility to enjoy the proximity of the forest,” underlines Andis Kublačovs, “METRUM” project manager, one of Babīte rural municipality development program creators.Regarding specific Babīte rural municipality development tasks – in the near future it is planned to expand the existing preschool educational establishments, as well as build new ones by attracting funds with the help of private partnership; to finish the construction of the new medical centre in Piņķi village; to improve the social infrastructure in the area of Kalnciems; and to improve access to public transport in the whole rural municipality.By attracting private developers, in the next three years it is planned to continue reconstructing the water supply and sewerage networks in Piņķi and Babīte villages, and to create a connection to the Rīga-Jūrmala pressure pipe to move waste water to treatment plants in Rīga. In the near future it is planned to develop a reconstruction project of Dzilnupe and Babīte polder pump stations. In the future it is also planned to create bikeways on a nature trail from Imanta to Ložmatējkalns hill, and offer them as skiing tracks in winter; to improve the nature park of Beberbeķi; create a flow for Piņķi body of water; and develop individual management regulations for Boži body of water, to use this area for recreation, sports and tourism.“METRUM” is currently still continuing the work on Babīte rural municipality territorial plan for 2007-2019. The development program and the territorial plan jointly make up the basis for planning of the local government’s development directions.
