After months of planning and public consultation Wellington North has passed its recreation master plan.
Steve Langlois of Monteith Brown Planning Consultants presented the plan to council on May 7. The public consultation period received nearly 600 contributions from an online survey, public input sessions, workshops and youth input.
Langlois said the recreation master plan was a “living document” meant to guide the township.
“It’s here to guide you towards 2031, relative to recreation facilities, activities, parks and open space, trails, arts and culture,” he said.
Council started the process in early 2017, selecting Monteith Brown as the consulting firm in July.
Langlois said the master plan contains 74 recommendations for council’s consideration. He said the plan’s guiding principals are to ensure “affordable, inclusive and high quality recreation, parks and cultural opportunities.”
Some of the key service delivery recommendations include:
– work with community organizations to maximize existing facilities through no to low-cast informal, unstructured and inclusive programming for children, teens and seniors;
– encourage greater coordination and expansion of seniors activities in Mount Forest;
– update rates and fees on a regular basis;
– create a community recreation coordinator position; and
– reconstitute the recreation and culture committee as an advisory body of council.
Some of the facility recommendations include:
– “refresh” the Arthur and Area Community Centre;
– assess long-term ice needs;
– support initiatives to enhance access to existing facilities for the growing seniors population in Mount Forest;
– explore the potential to relocate the Arthur Seniors Centre to the community centre;
– develop a splash pad in Mount Forest;
– replace the existing outdoor pool with a new outdoor pool in Mount Forest;
– establish a playground replacement program;
– develop a list of repairs, upgrades and improvements for the Arthur Community Centre and fairgrounds; and
– plan an off-leash park as a trial project.
Some of the parks and trails recommendations include:
– strive to achieve a minimum municipal parkland service level of 2.75 hectares per 1,000 residents, which would require an additional 13.8 hectares of parkland by 2031;
– secure additional parkland for Sports fields in Mount Forest;
– promote opportunities for unstructured play, passive recreation and naturalization efforts; and
– assign high priority to the creation and promotion of trail and active transportation routes.
After the presentation, council voted to receive the report and send it to the recreation and culture committee for “development of an action plan” to address the plans recommendations.
The plan is available for viewing at wellington-north.com/government/departments/recreation/recreation-master-plan-2017.
