Strategy to Implement Parks Plan Approved

Monday, July 13, 2009 08:25 PM

Prince George, B.C.- It has been nearly a year since the City of Prince George approved it’s Parks and Open Space Master plan. Tonight, a new council has approved the strategy to implement all the recommendations in that plan.

The master plan identified the parks in the region, classed them as either Aesthetic, Athletic, Natural or Passive Parks, then went on to note that while there is a surplus of natural parkland ( 801.45 Ha) there is a deficiency of 11.05 hectares of passive parks .

The strategy approved by Council tonight not only sets out how the City can "disperse" ( sell or develop) the excess parkland, but how it should go about acquiring more property for other parks. It also sets out priority phasing for the 30 recommendations:

1. Short timeframe of 1 to 3 years;

2. Medium timeframe of 4 to 6 years;

3. Long timeframe of 7 years and beyond, and

4. Ongoing actions.

Missing fromn this plan is the recently presented idea of a green corridor from somehwere in the downtown to the Fraser River. It was an idea first presented by the Millar Addition residents. It has also been embraced by the smart growth on the ground project. With that in mind, the Mayor says it is important to see thisas a living document that will see the priorities set as they are presented. The priorities may also change because of issues of funding for acquiring some properties.

The Master Plan also suggested several recommendations on acquiring land for parks:

• acquisition of 14.24 Ha of lands for District Park in the PG West District;

• a further review of Neighbourhood Park needs in the Croft/Montgomery, Aberdeen and Seton neighbourhood areas;

• acquisition of lands identified in the 1994 Parkland Acquisition Strategy, adopted Neighbourhood Plans, 2001 OCP, and the McMillan Creek Strategic Plan; and

• acquisition of riverfront lands.

Major Parkland Development Recommendations include the:

• development of Ron Brent Park as a Neighbourhood Park; and

• development of Carlisle, Christopher and Stauble Neighbourhood Parks and Fish Traps Island, Nechako Riverside and Parkridge Creek City Natural Parks;

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Posted on Monday, July 13, 2009 08:25 PM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: Eagleone on July 14 2009 2:02 AM

Fish Trap Island should be the municipal camp ground. Its a beautiful location on the river; on a bus route that can take tourists anywhere else in the city; lots of hiking trails virtually surrounding the entire area on both sides of the river; and a perfect treed area to shade the camp sites with. And if we did that and wanted to attract the tourists than we could allow water to once again flow through the old fish trap side channel and have PG's first safe place to swim on the river where kids could tub and parents wouldn't have to worry about them... in addition to that we could scrap the PAC and use the gravel pit next to Fish Trap Island and make an excellent out door concert area for future music festival draws to the city....

I'm sure the city will find an argument against progress though. Probably hire a consultant to break the bad news or something.

Posted by: gus on July 14 2009 4:14 AM

I skimmed over the 114 page document and found that there is no mention of a deficit of urban parks in the "downtown" area. Yes, there is Connaught Hill, but "pocket" parks are needed in the Winnipeg-Vancouver street residential corridor, the Gateway to the west of Victoria and north of 20th, plus the Central Business District.

PG has some reasonable parks in suburbia, but is totally deficient in the downtown and most immediately adjacent residential areas.

How can such an obvious shortfall have been overlooked? We must be so used to the lack of parks in the downtown that our planners and councillors cannot even see the deficiency anymore.

Posted by: NMG on July 14 2009 6:14 PM

"We must be so used to the lack of parks in the downtown that our planners and councillors cannot even see the deficiency anymore"

Agreed. Wouldn't it be great to see "pockets" of parkland spread throughout the downtown core, say from 3rd Ave to 15th and Victoria to Queensway that were interconnected so that people could walk from one edge of that area to the other without having to navigate much more than a crosswalk? You could have water features, outdoor skating rinks in the winter, a bandshell for performances in the summer, etc. Parkland could displace some of the decrepit old buildings in the downtown core, you would almost instantly beautify the area and it could even help draw business to the downtown. Parkside coffee shops, restaurants, boutiques and residential anyone? If we can't fill the downtown with businesses, why not turn it into useable greenspace?