New app, inclusivity, Mulock park among 'public's priorities:' mayor

Newmarket council is setting its priorities for the next four years, including a downtown pedestrianization pilot, implementing anti-Black racism plan

Newamarkettoday.ca
April 18, 2023
Joseph Quigley

Newmarket council has laid out its road map to improve the town through recreation and culture projects, environmental initiatives and improving diversity in the term ahead.

Council vetted its priorities for the term April 17, reviewing a document that included five categories: community and economic vibrancy, a customer-first way of life, extraordinary places and spaces, environmental sustainability, and a diverse, welcoming and inclusive community. Projects council expects to complete by the end of term in 2026 include the Mulock park, a new corporate app for residents and a multi-use path on Mulock Drive.

The priorities are reflective of what the community wants, garnered from the campaign trail and beyond, Newmarket Mayor John Taylor said.

“These are the public’s priorities,” he said. “It shows some changing focus by ourselves as the world around us changes and the community changes.”

The document comes after months of work between council and staff to sum up what councillors want to achieve during their term. Other projects are a downtown pedestrianization pilot, a redesign of the corporate app, an updated community engineering plan and implementation of the action plan to dismantle anti-Black racism.

Councillor Bob Kwapis said the priorities “paints the picture of what Newmarket is all about.”

“It is something I’ll be very proud to show around to the public,” he said.

The town will also look to better support the arts through a new brand strategy and implementation plan. Linked to that are plans to explore refitting the former operations centre on Timothy Street into a community arts hub.

“I hope what the public sees is a council that’s got a clear sense of what we think needs to be achieved in order to build an amazing community,” Taylor said. “To ensure Newmarket remains one of the best places to live.”

The priorities will be advertised after final approval by council later this month and are available on the town website.