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City of Maple Ridge hears back from public on new park

The Maple Ridge Parks, Recreation & Culture department engaged with the community in October to discern what they would like to see in a new park at the south east corner of 241A St. and 112 Ave.
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The City of Maple Ridge is developing a concept plan for the new park area at 241A St. and 112 Ave. (City of Maple Ridge mock-up screenshot/ mapleridge.ca)

The Maple Ridge Parks, Recreation & Culture department engaged with the community in October to discern what they would like to see in a new park at the south east corner of 241A St. and 112 Ave.

The two-acre park has been part of the Albion community plan for quite some time, and with new houses popping up all around the neighbourhood, the city is ramping up its development.

Results from the engagement – which saw 140 comment forms submitted – show participants have expressed the park should be ‘a space for youth in the neighborhood, with amenities for younger children and teens.’

READ MORE: New Haney park will honour pioneer family

The top five amenities locals are interested in are playgrounds and swings, walking pathways, an open lawn area, a picnic area, and a basketball/ hockey court.

Amenities which were not listed on the survey – which participants asked for most often – were water play, features and design to increase walk-ability to and from the park, a bike park, and safety features to secure the park.

Manager of parks planning and development for the city, Chad Neufeld says they will start with the features at the top of the list for the neighbourhood, and try to fit as many of them as the parks budget will allow.

“At the end of the day, we do need to factor all those considerations in, and we’ll put together a concept plan, which incorporates as many of those amenities and features as we can,” he said.

Once the concept plan is in place, the city will go back to the public to see if they approve of the design.

“If everything goes according to our plans, construction will happen around spring/ summer and will go however long it needs to go,” Neufeld said.

This initiative is one of five similar projects under development in the city.

Country Lane and Creek’s Crossing playground equipment is being replaced, as it that of the Holly Park playground. A new gathering place is proposed for the Blaney Hamlet neighbourhood in Silver Valley, and the Thornhill Trails system is being studied to see how it can be improved.

The parks in Maple Ridge are constantly changing with the times.

“We’re open to everything the community is telling us, Neufeld said.

“For each park project we start with a community consultation process and really look to hear what a community wants, and and then we strive to build those things.

“As community flavours and input change over time, so does our park design.”



ronan.p.odoherty@blackpress.ca

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