MEDICINE HAT, AB– Following months of outreach, the city’s Parks and Recreation Master Plan was adopted by council last night.
The 164-page report will help the city plan, build and guide its operations.
It also determines what the community values.
(City of Medicine Hat)A list in the master plan identifies priorities for recreation. The city says 50 per cent of community engagement held within the past year through Shape Your City and pop-up booths played into determining the priorities. Another 20 per cent was provincial, and national recreation trends and a further 20 per cent was weighed based on the recreation plans already in place. Ten per cent of the 2011 list in the previous master plan also had
an influence.
Aside from recreation priorities, the master plan also discovered a need for greater walkability, and the environment also came up as a strong theme.
Coun. Alison Van Dyke said some of the responses were surprising.
“I was really happy to hear that people in the community had so much focus on the environment. So that was quite new in the survey results I think. I’m not sure the last time they surveyed around parks and rec but I know that department talked about this was a significant change and so knowing that people are concerned about the environment, and want to see better protections so I was really happy to hear that,” she said.
A plan that examines the feasibility of building a multi-plex versus restoring aging facilities is in the works and will come before council. When asked about her thoughts on recreation facilities, Van Dyke said it’s important to factor in the different needs that the facilities serve.
“A community needs both. So you do need sometimes a place that offers many services for a different kind of customer or resident that wants that. But then, there are places that are a little more stand-alone facilities that also serve a very specific need as well, and we saw that with the community need for the Crestwood pool to come back. Crestwood pool doesn’t have a lot of users that are there for recreational swimming but it does have a lot of people who use it for classes,” she said.
A full look at the Recreation Master Plan can be found here.
