Parks, Recreation and Culture Master Plan returns to North Huron

BY DENNY SCOTT

While council was more impressed with the final Parks, Recreation and Culture Master Plan than previous presentations on it, council members pointed out several remaining controversial suggestions.

During council’s Monday night meeting, Todd Brown, President of Monteith Brown Planning Consultants, presented the final document, a 203-page compendium of research, interviews and surveys highlighting what the municipality should be considering for the future in recreation and cultural applications.

Brown explained how the project came together, pointing to the creation of a vision and mission statement, community consultation and consultation with staff and council before diving into a brief overview of the community survey findings. He highlighted the top 10 priorities for additional public spending, which included nature trails, farmers’ markets, arenas, playgrounds, paved multi-use trails, splash pads, acquisition of parks and open spaces, fitness studios, equipment-based fitness centres and community gardens, all of which had significant support. 

As part of the final public information centre, held after the planning group last presented to council on Nov. 10, Brown said 50 submissions were received and that, according to them, the public supported expanding trails and undertaking improvements of existing assets and for accessibility improvements. He also said there is a desire to maintain the Blyth campground’s operation, which he said was spurred on by the fact that locals believe it plays a role in economic development and tourism.
He said feedback for other Blyth proposals, including the potential creation of a municipal daycare and the re-purposing of the surplus baseball diamond, was mixed with individual residents either supporting or opposing those changes.

Other issues included council needing to recognize the importance of the Howson Dam according to ratepayers, he said. Earlier this year, council voted to decommission the site.

As for specific projects, despite the negative feedback, Brown still suggested preparing a parkland redevelopment plan for the Blyth and District Community Centre to repurpose one of the baseball diamonds and turn it into a space for a skateboard park, tennis and pickleball courts and a multi-use pad for basketball and ball hockey. 

“Improvements to the remaining ball diamond should be undertaken to meet the needs of users,” he said. “Should the surplus ball diamond continue to be maintained, alternative locations for the noted facility needs should be determined.”

Later in the meeting, Brown referenced the fact that the Blyth Lions Club had stated it may have space for those amenities. In a letter to North Huron, long-time club member John Stewart  referenced discussions the club had previously had regarding construction of a sports pad, but said funding was a problem, and that the club would be happy to work with government and private enterprise to see that kind of project work.

Brown also suggested that council engage the Blyth Lions Club to investigate changing the wading pool into a splash pad despite the club’s correspondence saying that wasn’t what the community wanted. He said that the feedback was based on a survey taken several years ago and that the more up-to-date information his firm collected showed a strong desire for such a facility.

Other suggestions included extending the Blyth campground pilot program to better understand its challenges and opportunities before making a final decision; repurposing the concession spaces at local arenas to offer programming or office space; relocate the Wingham Library Branch to the North Huron Wescast Community Centre when major capital repairs are required and relocating the Blyth Library Branch to the Blyth and District Community Centre when its lease is no longer available as a means of strengthening the centres and repurposing underutilized space; creating playgrounds to make sure all residential areas are within 800 metres of a playground; helping to assist community groups with special events; expanding the municipality’s recreation guide and pursuing opportunities to address parkland gaps in Hutton Heights and the north and east sides of Blyth.

Brown also recommended working with the Goderich-to-Guelph (G2G) Rail Trail committee, the Wingham trail committee and the Maitland Valley Conservation Authority to prepare a trails master plan to help improve trails in the area, which was the most-supported use of expanded funding in the firm’s surveys.

Brown also suggested a youth committee, later in the presentation, that would help to make sure the youth voice is heard when planning for the future.

Brown said that township staff should bring forward individual recommendations each year to address the shortfalls identified in the plan, and that the municipality should regularly track demographics and funding opportunities to make sure council and staff are planning for the right groups and taking advantage of all possible funding opportunities.

Brown then invited questions from council, with Councillor Chris Palmer asking how he could recommend doing away with the second baseball diamond in Blyth despite the negative response.

“For me, to repurpose one of the ball diamonds makes sense, when coupled with the [proposed replacements], but I don’t live there,” he said. “The folks in Blyth, it’s really a decision that they need to let us know what they’re thinking… and a lot of the comments at the back of the report say ‘Don’t you dare touch it.’”

“How did you come up with that recommendation knowing [you had received that kind of response]?” he asked Brown.
Brown said recommendations aren’t always made based on what is popular, but based on utilization. He said there were five diamonds in the municipality and the other three (two in Wingham and one in Belgrave) saw better utilization, while the Blyth diamonds saw little use. 

“There are a number of facilities that would be an excellent fit [instead],” he said. “In trying to promote camping, as we heard was important in the comments, things like playgrounds, tennis courts, and basketball courts [would make a] good draw for residents but also campers.”

He also said the baseball diamonds were in need of significant upgrades, so to keep both would be costly.
Brown said, based on his experience, the old baseball diamond adage of “if you build it, they will come” wasn’t correct and that baseball was in decline, in spite of what he called a recent, slow resurgence. 
Councillor Paul Heffer asked Brown why he recommended pickleball courts when only seven per cent of respondents said they were interested. 

Brown said the survey wasn’t the only thing considered when making recommendations, and said part of it is demographics, and since North Huron has an aging population, he recommended pickleball as it’s popular with that demographic and is one of the fastest growing sports in Canada. 

“It [represented a] relatively low percentage in the survey, but when we look at other factors, we know it would be in high demand if you would build a pickleball court, but also have tennis possible on the same court service,” he said. 

Deputy-Reeve Trevor Seip said he was impressed by the report because it wasn’t just suggesting taking out existing facilities, but made recommendations about how to better use the space. He did say, however, that taxpayers need to realize that everyone pays into facilities, so tax dollars will have to be weighed against the good of the entire municipality, not just what each community wants.

Seip also said council needs to look at these options and consider building not for the demographics of today, but of 10 years down the road, saying that the demographics are already changing and will continue to do so with new residential development across the municipality’s three wards.

Councillor Kevin Falconer said he was concerned that the survey results were skewed, with 55 per cent of respondents being from Wingham. He was even more concerned, however, that 18 per cent of the respondents were from outside of the municipality all together, with only 10 and 12 per cent coming from East Wawanosh and Blyth respectively.

Brown once again said the survey was just one aspect of the study, but did say that, upon review, his firm found there weren't significant differences between the survey results regardless of where the respondents were located.

Seip then questioned whether a skatepark was needed for a handful of local youth, but reminded council it could draw visitors from outside the community.

Brown said youth need something to do in a community to prevent gatherings that may look, but aren’t usually, nefarious. He said skateboarding gives them an outlet, so it’s worth it even with minimal use.
“I find, in my experience, with my own kids, that the kids that go there regularly are great kids,” he said, adding they foster other people into the activity.

Reeve Bernie Bailey said council’s final input on the document, which is scheduled for the Dec. 20 meeting, will be better informed as staff are going to be presenting usage statistics of local facilities. He said the numbers will “shock” council, referring specifically to the number of users who come from outside the community.

Council received the document, adopted it as a guiding document for planning and budget processes and directed staff to include the document on the Dec. 20 agenda for council to provide additional direction.