Councillors endorse 10-year master plan for parks and recreation

By Sharon Harrison
It’s been four years in the works, but the parks and recreation master plan, described as the first of its kind for Prince Edward County, finally received endorsement from councillors at the recent committee of the whole meeting.

The plan is intended to act as a guiding document for future planning and investment in parks, recreation facilities, and services across the County, and comes with 55 recommended action items.

The 10-year plan identifies priorities for investment in parks, open spaces, recreational amenities, events, facilities, and service delivery, with a focus on equity, accessibility and sustainability.

“This is the County’s first comprehensive plan for parks and recreation and it addresses demographic shifts, aging infrastructure and growing demand for inclusive and accessible recreation,” said Lisa Lindsay, director of recreation and community facilities.

At Thursday’s meeting, council also agreed to direct staff to review and update the facility rentals and ice allocation policy to clarify equitable access to facilities for all user groups, and to maximize utilization (a planned action item for 2026).

Staff will also review the terms of reference for recreation committees and will explore opportunities to realign services to reflect broader community functions the committees support beyond recreation.

A motion by councillor Phil St-Jean to expedite timelines for two action items to 1-2 years from 3-5 years, carried. Those action items include review and evaluation of identifying under-used County-owned parkland parcels (surplus properties), and to create a disposition policy.

Collectively, the plan is to respond to the County’s aging population, growth in Picton and Wellington, increased demand for recreation and leisure, seasonal population impacts, desire for healthier lifestyles and inclusive services, and the challenges of serving a large geographic area with limited resources, notes Lindsay’s report.

“As the County’s first comprehensive plan of its kind, the parks and recreation master plan responds to evolving community needs, demographic changes, and infrastructure challenges with a co-ordinated and forward-looking approach.”

She said it supports the County’s strategic objectives and will guide capital planning, asset management and operational budgeting to ensure recreation services evolve in step with community needs.

The master plan is framed by three pillars (community recreation hubs, service delivery excellence, and parks and outdoor facilities – more detail can be found below) and a series of subsequent strategic directions. They are accompanied by 55 action items recommended for successful implementation of the plan and are categorized as on-going, short-term (1-2 years), mid-term (3-5 years), and long-term (6+ years).

The plan also aligns with the County’s strategic plan, asset management plan, and Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act standards.

The delay in launching the master plan was due to competing council priorities and limited staff capacity indicated Lindsay, who said the final plan “reflects a robust and inclusive planning process and provides a strong foundation for future decision-making.”

Consultants Sierra Planning and Management led the development of the plan in collaboration with the MBTW Group and WGD Architects.

Questions, comments and concerns from several council members included the County’s changing demographics, accessibility, school board collaboration, unused allotted ice time, to what happens if the plan is not adopted.

Monies earmarked for the plan’s development, in the amount of $97,000, were previously approved in the 2022 capital budget. The project was funded through the County’s capital sustainability reserve and capital revenue from development charges.

Councillor Brad Nieman raised a point in the report which outlines the County’s element of risk (seven points noted) if the master plan is not implemented, something the councillor took exception to.

“What this report is telling us, is we have not really managed our department here very good. They are telling us it is inconsistent decision making, service delivery fragmented, it’s all those things,” expressed Nieman. “I have a hard time believing that we got this far without being able to do some of that stuff.

“I am a little disappointed that this is coming like this, it’s giving us a black eye to say that we are not doing our jobs, so I’m not very happy about that because I think we have done some.”

Lindsay said it wasn’t about the measurables and the operation.

“Right now, we are continuing to budget to the best of our ability and replace what is in most desperate need of repair for consequence of failure,” she explained. “What this plan is talking about is having guiding principles on how we are moving forward.”

Nieman also spoke to ice rentals and how allotted ice time is not being used.

“What I’m hearing is there is various people willing to pay to get that ice. We are shooting ourselves in the foot when we are limiting people to use that ice when it’s not being used, so why aren’t we giving people that option?”

“The way I read this, it wasn’t making us look good. I didn’t need to pay $97,000 to hear that we weren’t doing things right,” added Nieman.

Jonathan Hack with Sierra Planning and Management said it is not about suggesting that the municipality and staff are not able to find solutions.

“The worst thing in the world for a municipality to have is a master plan that is received for information, but is not adopted,” suggested Hack. “Because then, staff have absolutely… they just have quick sand underneath them in terms of coming forward with the relevance of the documents.”

Hack also said it was important to note the parks and recreation master plan is the higher order document than the asset management plan because it goes into substantive detail about how a service is provided.

“If you have a good asset management plan and you have a good parks and recreation master plan, both council and staff are going to have the tools they need to make decisions.”

“It’s important you adopt a plan, because if you don’t, it’s not only a status quo, but you are going backwards, and it’s important to have a policy as a guideline,” added Hack.

Supportive of the plan, councillor John Hirsch said he had one little concern from the background study (the data of which ends in 2021) that talks about changing demographics and how the County’s demographics are getting older.

“I would argue, strongly, that that has changed: our schools are full to overflowing, younger families are moving in,” stated Hirsch. “Is there anything in this plan married to that idea that we are getting older, because I really think we’re not.”

Hack explained how the plan rests on census data, something that is going to be replaced next summer, he said.

“The councillor is right: with the pandemic, particularly, that flow of capital and people continued. We never take the results of a census, which is a static picture, as being the defining role for the recommendations we have,” explained Hack.

“We always say, places are growing older because Canada is growing older as a country, but in individual places, you need to plan for and recognize places are also growing. I think the County is going to be growing younger, it’s still older as a profile, but our plan does take that into account.”

The 39-page draft 2025-2034 Prince Edward County Parks and Recreation Master Plan, including the 55 recommended action items, can be found on the County’s website.

Council hears review of 10-year parks and recreation master plan

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The parks and recreation master plan is framed by the following three pillars, and includes some progress updates below:

Community recreation hubs
-Designate and develop centralized hubs in Picton and Wellington
-Create master plans for Roblin Lake Park, Wellington Ball Park and Picton Fairgrounds [development of the Roblin Lake park master plan – underway]
-Maintain and optimize existing indoor/outdoor facilities
-Re-brand recreation committees as community committees [review of the recreation committees’ terms of reference, with consideration of transitioning to community committees under a revised mandate – 2026 planned action item]
-Plan for future indoor facilities including a municipal pool and gymnasium.

Service delivery excellence
-Shift from facilitation to direct program delivery by the County
-Hire a recreation co-ordinator
-Conduct a user fee and subsidization study
-Leverage partnerships with schools, non-profits and private sector
-Improve access to school gymnasiums
-Enhance and re-imagine County museums as vibrant community assets.

Parks and outdoor facilities
– Invest in destination and community parks
-Consider new amenities: outdoor pool, splash pads, pump tracks, pickleball courts [implementation of the court allocation process – completed]
-Adopt a playground development and replacement strategy [creation of a playground replacement strategy through the asset management plan – underway]
-Plan for new and emerging recreation facilities
-Implement a parkland classification system and design standards manual [integration of public art into new and existing parkland where feasible – completed]
-Review under-used parkland for potential disposition or naturalization
-Enhance waterfront access and boat launches [establishment of a boat launch plan – completed]
-Expand and standardize the trail network, especially around Millennium Trail.