The collaborative design process for the creation of the biggest development project Whitehorse has ever seen is in its final day.

In an interview this morning, city planning manager Lesley Cabott said the Porter Creek bench charrette team has come up with the 'nuts and bolts' of the new development with the help of experts and members of the community.

'We've got it down to one plan,' Cabott said.

Only days ago, she noted, there were as many as seven ideas of what the Porter Creek bench could look like.

The charrette team will be breaking off into groups today to work on the finishing touches which will include:

• the development of a green space map;

• finalizing plans for a road network;

• plans for providing energy, and conservation measures, to the new development; and

• water and sewage planning;

The final public meeting on the Porter Creek bench, which will show what the design team has come up with so far, will begin at 7:00 tonight at the Canada Games Centre.

In a group conference before the charrette broke off into teams this morning, Sandra Marshall, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation's senior researcher, showed examples of sustainable projects in Europe and Canada which included energy conservation, parking and recycling initiatives.

'These are common things in Europe with the high cost of fuel,' Marshall said, showing pictures of homes in multi-residential mixed use areas around the world.

Examples of what's being done can be seen by visiting www.cmhc.ca and entering innovative buildings into the website's search engine.

John Pattimore, a Ta'an Kwach'an Council land planner and charrette participant, said this morning he has been pleased with the charrette process so far and the Ta'an would likely include some of its land in the area as part of the sustainable initiative.

'The bottom line is it looks like a Ta'an (land) parcel fit into one of the (development areas) that comes off the central core (of the development),' he said.

'It looks like things could mesh,' Pattimore said, explaining that the Ta'an Kwach'an Council favours sustainable development.

Anyone interested in learning more about the charrette process can visit the Games centre today or call the city's planning department at 668-8335.