The results are in, and Bradford’s Leisure Services Master Plan is a hit.
Committee of the whole recommended to council that it endorse the finalized version of the plan during a meeting Oct. 17.
The plan will set new goals for parks, recreation facilities and services to the year 2032, by which time the town’s population is estimated to reach 60,000.
Since the previous draft of the plan was presented to council on Aug. 15, Nick Warman, the town’s manager of recreation and client services, said the feedback from public consultation was largely positive, and as a result, the plan was mostly unchanged with the exception of recommendations No. 31 and No. 32 swapping places, as well as grammatical and typographical updates.
Key themes in public feedback included:
- Support for the plan’s focus on inclusivity, making parks and facilities barrier-free
- Support for providing programs and services for all age groups
- Support for co-location of amenities through multi-use facilities
- Support for indoor pickleball courts and a desire for more outdoor pickleball courts
- Support for creating additional arena and gymnasium capacity
- Requests for parks in rural areas, off-leash areas, walking trails and bicycle lanes
Ward 2 Coun. Jonathan Scott praised the plan for its focus on inclusion. He likes the idea of hiring more inclusion co-ordinators, and appreciated the plan mentioning improved access to both the river and canal. He noted the two items that received the greatest support from residents for the town’s additional spending were paved and nature trails.
Other items highly supported by residents included: playgrounds, acquiring parks and open space, pools, ice rinks and splash pads.
Ward 3 Coun. Ben Verkaik appreciated the extent to which Bond Head is included in the plan, but had concerns that most projects in the area weren’t expected until sometime after 2030.
“People in Bond Head can’t be expected to drive all the way to Bradford when we’re building all these homes around there. The new residents will be coming in and they’ll have expectations,” he said.
Ward 6 Coun. Nickolas Harper emphasized the success of the consultants' approach to include feedback forms and an online portal for residents, noting he worked to have the same options included as part of the ongoing consultations for the traffic mitigation strategy.
Deputy Mayor Raj Sandhu thanked Warman and Anand Desai, project lead for Monteith Brown, the firm working on the plan. Both attended the meeting, but neither were called to speak.
Once the plan is approved, staff will begin reviewing the recommendations and enacting the goals in consultation with council during budget and planning cycles.
Recommendations from the committee are considered for approval at the next regular council meeting.
