Survey puts parks system under citizen microscope

By Al Beeber - Lethbridge Herald on November 22, 2022.

Herald photo by Alejandra Pulido-Guzman Residents take advantage of the warmer weather on Monday afternoon as they make their way around the lakeshore path at Henderson Lake.

LETHBRIDGE HERALDabeeber@lethbridgeherald.com

The City of Lethbridge is asking for residents’ feedback on the parks system here.

An online survey was launched Monday and runs to Dec. 16, seeking opinions on various matters pertaining to parks.

Parks planning manager Chris Witkowski said Monday at City Hall shortly before the annual lighting of the Christmas tree in the foyer, that the parks master plan is now 15 years old and the City wants to hear from residents what is working and what isn’t.

“We’re looking for some feedback from as many residents as we can on our parks system, about how people view it today and how they’d like to see it in the future,” said Witkowski.

The department is seeking opinions on some of the services the City currently provides and directions it’s considering in the future, Witkowski said.

“The Master Plan is all about what the public wants for our parks system for today and the future” so getting as much input as the City can now is important as it builds the plan, he added.

Since the current plan was created, “a lot of the recommendations in that plan have been accomplished already so as we look at the next 15 years for our parks system, we really want to know what’s working and what’s not from the public. We don’t build the parks for us and administration, we build them for community use. So to understand what the community’s looking for, what they’re happy with, what changes they want to see really builds the format of the master plan,” Witkowski said, adding a lot of previous plans have been on community feedback.

“A lot of the improvements we’re making now are based off community input so we think this is one more step to get some great information and build a more awesome parks system,” he said.

The online survey asks various questions about resident wants and where they prioritize certain matters. Available online at http://www.getinvolvedlethbridge.ca, the survey takes just minutes to do.

The City wants to know what residents want to see in the parks, such as amenities. There are also questions regarding naturalization and development, inclusivity and other topics.

One question asks residents their top five priorities for parks.

Another asks the type of park development residents prefer. One asks residents’ level of support for things such as WiFi and web maps, urban agriculture, additional infrastructure and more winter activities.

Residents are also asked for their opinions on different naturalized approaches to park maintenance.

People who don’t have access to the internet can contact 311 and have a survey mailed to them.

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