The public will soon have access to the City of Terrace’s Parks and Recreation master plan after it was presented at a committee of the whole meeting last week.
At the meeting July 21, Carmen Didier, director of leisure services for the city, presented the master plan, which will help the city in creating a longterm vision and direction for recreation facilities.
The document states that the city is deeply committed to achieving a sustainable and livable community, and the master plan will help guide the city in fulfilling this goal.
The plan was completed with public input gathered in April and explains that the most popular outdoor recreation activities in Terrace are trails and parks, the farmers market, and other special events and festivals in George Little Park.
Didier said that through community input they learned the public wants to see more public washrooms opened and even more trails and parks established.
The most popular indoor recreation activities were found to be using the swimming pool and activities on ice.
It was noted that there was dissatisfaction with the state of the Terrace Aquatic Centre, however, much of this will be relinquished after the aquatic centre is redesigned during its upcoming renewal project.
The youth survey asked Terrace’s young people what parks and recreation additions could make them happier.
Some items of note included more teen and adult programs; more music festivals; indoor turf for soccer or other sports; an improved skatepark and possibly another one; as well as dealing with public intoxication and improving safety in parks more generally.
The master plan also noted that much park infrastructure is aging and in need of replacement.
Although the master plan cannot compel council to act on every one if its recommendations, which would essentially be unaffordable for the city, it will help council prioritize how Parks and Recreation money can be spent in the future.
“It’s very, very expensive,” Didier said. “I’d love to do everything but I really feel like staff needs some direction on where we’re going to go.”
Coun. Lynne Christiansen said the city shouldn’t feel discouraged if they can’t do everything the plan outlines all at once because the document provides a longterm vision.
“Just have the plan and chip away at it,” Christiansen said.
City council members at the committee of the whole meeting were supportive of the plan that was presented to them. However, the plan must first be officially accepted at an upcoming city council meeting.
The first draft of the plan was released to the public at the end of April, at which point there was a three week window for the community to provide input.
The final plan, the one presented at last week’s committee of the whole meeting, was completed at the end of June.
Information was gathered from the public through online surveys, public workshops and a youth survey conducted at Caledonia Senior Secondary School.
More details will emerge about the master plan and the direction council might want to take with it when it becomes available to the public and is accepted at a later council meeting.
When the plan does become available to the public, they will be able to access it on the city’s official website. The plan will also be shared on the city’s Facebook page.
