By Rebecca Gruszka, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The new Live and Play Plan was put to council vote on June 11 and was unanimously approved as the best way to move forward regarding parks and recreation in Burlington.
The plan’s goal is to help guide recreational and cultural facilities over the next 20 to 30 years and help the city “provide a range of healthy and active choices that engage all residents and ensures that the city grows as an environmentally sustainable, vibrant and economically strong community,” according to the city’s online public engagement platform, Get Involved Burlington.
Emilie Cote, the Director of Recreation, Community and Culture noted in a press release, “This is a significant plan with many recommendations on how we could build and upgrade recreational and city-operated cultural facilities over the next decade to meet the demand of our growing and changing city. This plan presents a guideline for future projects. The next key tasks are deciding what we can do and when.”
The plan was developed based on these values: “Everyone has the right to play”; “individual well-being”; and “a sense of belonging,” under the overall vision of enhancing life for everyone in Burlington. The city undertook community consultation by way of an online survey, group workshops, in-person engagement at community events (the Food for Feedback event and the Appleby Line Street Festival), and online and in-person engagement sessions, starting back in September 2023.
The community made it clear during the consultation sessions that they have a great appreciation for the existing parks, recreation, and cultural facilities that are currently in Burlington, particularly the waterfront and its associated parks. Members of the public also asked the city to enhance the amenities at existing parks (with washrooms, shaded areas, water stations, seating, and other suggestions), and create new facilities for people of all ages (suggestions included cricket pitches, ice pads, and an expanded seniors’ centre). While the community does want to see new facilities, particularly given the growth (current and upcoming) in Burlington’s population, they want to see proportional effort put into renewing existing facilities. Finally, the Live and Play Plan notes that the community asserted that spaces and programs should be inclusive for everyone, with attention paid to the needs of newcomers, the aging population, and people with disabilities.
While council unanimously approved the Live and Play Plan, not everyone was pleased with the plan. Partnering Aldershot, a collective of Aldershot-based businesses and agencies, sent Chair Jim Young to delegate to the Committee of the Whole when the plan came up for discussion last week. He spoke on and wrote a critique of the Live and Play Plan, addressing the lack of attention to the Aldershot community.
Young stated in his critique, “In 14 pages of recommendations for future recreation facilities, Aldershot, with only two community spaces, is not mentioned once for inclusion in these plans. Not one Aldershot facility is reimagined or slated for improvement or expansion based on existing undersupply and projected population growth.”
Young notes that the core values stated in the Live and Play Plan are being ignored with regard to Aldershot and the future planning of its recreation. During his delegation at the Committee of the Whole, he went on to “compare the aspirations of this report with the reality of recreation in Aldershot,” which included multiple callouts to Aldershot having no city-managed community recreation space or multipurpose space, and described its old, underdeveloped pool, ice rink, and indoor space with no mention in the plans for these spaces to be updated. Young stated that these are “opportunities this report might have addressed, yet utterly fails to do so.” Partnering Aldershot requested that staff go back to the plan to consider how Aldershot might be included before it went to council for approval.
Young said that council’s decision to approve the plan without a reconsideration of Aldershot’s place within it was disappointing and felt like they missed the point he made in his delegation. Young mentions in his critique that the city’s response to the community’s concerns was to highlight “the amount of city park space in Aldershot as consolation for the utter lack of indoor facilities.” In a later discussion with Ward 1 Councillor Kelvin Galbraith, Young said that it was pointed out by city staff that there has been investment and renewal in Aldershot’s parks over the last five years, though they are not included in the plan for additions for indoor amenities, which is part of what Partnering Aldershot would like to see in their neighbourhood.
However, after the Live and Play Plan was approved, Connie Price, chair of the Partnering Aldershot Seniors Committee, who also attended the Committee of the Whole meeting at which Young delegated, announced some good news for Aldershot seniors: city staff is working with Price on a pilot project to plan and organize activities in the Aldershot Pool Community Room.
From the point of view of Partnering Aldershot, it is a good start and a sign that their voices are being heard.
Young added, “I don’t think the city understands the depth of the alienation felt in Aldershot today. The amount of intensification, traffic congestion, disruptions of routine with no reciprocity in social, civic, or public transit infrastructure, despite ever increasing taxes. We make jokes about the grocery store issue but the humour masks a much deeper discontentment.”
Sources/For More Information
City of Burlington. 2024. Burlington Live and Play Plan. URL: https://www.burlington.ca/en/council-and-city-administration/resources/Plans-Reports-and-Studies/Live-and-Play-Plan/RCC-12-24-Appendix-A-Burlington-LPP-Final-June-2024-FINAL-AODA.pdf (accessed on June 15, 2024).
City of Burlington. 2024, June 17. Live and Play Plan is now ready. URL: https://www.burlington.ca/en/news/live-and-play-plan-is-now-ready.aspx (accessed on June 18, 2024).
