Survey says ... we like our parks and trails and want more of them

Prince Rupert City Councillor Nick Adey used the final moments of Monday's Council session to seek an update on how the City's review of parks and green space is coming along, the councillor following up on some themes he had first brought forward from the fall.

Among the areas of interest for the Council member included if any findings were available from the survey that focused on the resources available and what they might want in the future.

As well the Councillor was looking for a more formal update towards the overall ambitions of the work towards rejuvenation and improvement for parks in the community.

"My request would be, I am hoping that we will ... there was a parks and recreation survey and report process undertaken to give us a sense of direction in terms of our local parks and recreation. 

And there were public surveys and public input, I'm hoping that at some future meeting, certainly before we get in too far into the Budget process that we get some sense of a summary of the findings of that report 

So that can inform some of our decisions around where we spend some money in that department" -- Councillor Nick Adey

Towards  a reply to the enquiries, Planning Manager Myfannwy Pope offered up a short synopsis of where that process is at as her department continues with their work of creating a final draft of a report to the topic. 

"Currently we have finished the first round of engagement on that final plan and the summary of the survey has been posted to Rupert Talks and we can do an update on that at a future meeting before Council.

And we are just moving into the developing of the draft document itself" -- Planning Manager Myfannwy Pope

The discussion from the council chamber from Monday can be reviewed below starting at the 42 minute mark.

Councillor Adey and those in the community with an interest in the findings can find the review of the survey process here.

From the replies that have been compiled, a snapshot of what we like about the parks and what improvements we would like to see to them, provided some interesting views as to those spaces where we like to go.

Of the recreation options the most popular spots seem to be the Sunken Gardens behind the Prince Rupert Court House, followed very closely by Butze Rapids, with Mariners Park and Oliver Lake also high on the list.

The locations that bring the highest level of satisfaction are led off by Rushbrook Trail, Pacific Mariners Memorial Park and Butze Rapids Trail.

As for plans for the future, survey respondents indicated that more waterfront access was a top priority along with improving current parks and creating more trail connections.

 

The 20 page review also provides some detailed responses for each of the community parks and recreation spaces and what residents would like to see done for each of them.

The full Rupert Talks engagement page is available for review here. 

Items of interest from the Planning department can be examined here.

More notes from the Monday Council session can be explored here.