Belleville announces new director in charge of planning

By Liam Radford

BELLEVILLE – The City of Belleville has announced Stephen Ashton will be its new director of engineering and development services. He starts next Monday.

Rod Bovay, the previous director, was appointed chief administrative officer in July of 2019.

Ashton has been the manager of policy planning for Belleville since June of 2018 and previously worked for the municipality of Brighton as manager of planning. He has also worked as a planner in Whitby, Cobourg and Oakville.

Bovay said in the announcement that Ashton brings over 15 years of experience and that he looks forward to the success of the department.

The director of engineering and development services oversees the building of new infrastructure; issuing building permits, zoning by-laws and updating the city’s official plan.

Mayor Panciuk said in a press release that he and council look forward to working with Ashton.