Plans for a new park in the city’s west end received a favourable response from residents and neighbours who completed a survey recently and that input is being used in the park management plan that will be presented to council this week.
“We were really pleased with the results of the survey,” said Brady Clark, Director of Culture, Recreation and Green Transportation.
“It showed that overall people are in favour of the direction the city is taking with this park, a self-directed, more nature-based park and people seemed to like that.”
The survey was available online and in paper form, from March 22 to April 13.
The West End Regional Park will be located south of Manitoba Avenue behind the Walmart Supercentre and Selkirk GM dealer, east of Hwy. 9.
The city’s intention for the park, which will be just under 90 acres is size, is that it will be a more naturalized space.
“What we’ve established as a vision for the West End Park is that it won’t have program space, but will be more self-directed and nature based, self-guided programming as opposed to organized programming,” Clark said.
“The idea is that people will go there for passive recreation, whether that’s walking or biking or skiing or paddling and we’ll be establishing natural grasses and flowers that have been removed from the area or died off and returning most of the space to its natural state.”
Clark noted that much of the proposed park is on former quarry and waste disposal grounds which prevents the lands from being developed or the building of structures.
Most desired featured include multi-use trails, public washrooms, preservation of natural habitat, seating/resting areas and bike paths.
The city has three park categories – neighbourhood, meant for users within walking distance, community, meant for all citizens of Selkirk, and regional, meant to serve the needs of Selkirk residents and also attract non-residents within the region with people arriving on foot, bike or by car. Selkirk Park is currently the only regional park in the city and the second will be the West End Regional Park.
Results of the survey showed that 56 per cent of respondents visit Selkirk’s parks frequently during the summer and that most, 66 per cent, visited Selkirk Park most often.
The most desired features of the new park included multi-use trails, public washrooms, preservation of natural habitat, seating/resting areas and bike paths.
Tom Janzen, a partner with Scatliff + Miller + Murray urban design and landscaping, who have been contracted to work with the city on the West End Park Management Plan, said responses in the survey were positive.
“It affirmed the direction and showed support for the investment the city is making,” he said.
“The majority of people indicated a willingness to pay a bit more money for investment in the park.”
The survey showed that 56 per cent of respondents supported an increase of $1 or more in property tax per year to fund the regional park, with the most common level of tax increase supported was between $1 and $19 per year.
There was plenty of support for passive outdoor activities at the park, with 66 per cent listing walking/jogging as a desired activity; 49 per cent said enjoy nature/bird watching and 48 per cent wanted to walk/play with a pet.
Park management plans guiding future investment
Survey results will be used in the final park management plan that will be presented to council. The West End Regional Park is a long-term project that will be rolled out according to the timeline set in the management plan.
Selkirk CAO Duane Nicol said the City will develop management plans for all city parks to guide the capital investments and the operating and maintenance standards of the parks.
“These plans will be integrated into our asset management program and will guide the future investment into our parks and will set out clear standards for their operation. Each plan will be based on targeted consultation and will balance the needs of users with the City’s capacity to provide quality services. Within the plans, we will also embed priorities like climate change adaptation, accessibility, and promoting biodiversity. The plans are longer-term in focus, covering a period of ten years after which we will again consult citizens to ensure our park system is constantly evolving and improving to meet the needs of our citizens,” said Nicol.
The park land is part of a 326.5-acre parcel the city purchased in 2019, the largest land purchase ever by the city. It was done with great foresight and an aim to taking the development reigns firmly in hand and steering the city in the direction the city wants to go in.
The city’s Community Strategic Plan calls for the city to take firmer control of its economic destiny, and the land will facilitate the next 30 to 50 years of growth in the city. In 2020 the city approved the West End Concept Plan to ensure development in the area aligns with its Community Strategic Plan.
The Concept Plan calls for 5,000 new housing units and includes a mixed-use urban village along with the 90-acres of park space and a 1.5km long water feature.
The water feature will be Selkirk’s largest storm water retention pond that will give the city greater capacity to manage storm water while providing new recreational options.
Nicol said the park will develop overtime as the west-end development lands expand. The park will ensure that the new residents of the west-end will be withing 400 meters of a city park or green space which is a standard that adopted by many urban centres.
