Have your say on future of sports, recreation, parks in Aurora

Yorkregion.com
Sept. 14, 2015
By Teresa Latchford

This is your chance to share how you envision the future of sport, parks and recreation in Aurora.

The town is in the initial stages of creating a parks and recreation master plan and a sport master plan intended to create a vision for the future to the year 2021. Residents are being invited to participate in the first step of the process and provide input at the community launch event Sept. 15 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Aurora Family Leisure Complex.

“This is the initial kickoff meeting; the first step in the process,” parks and recreation director Al Downey said. “We want people to help us form points for discussion and to help us form recommendations.”

Attendees will be asked to complete three statements: “The best thing I like about parks and recreation in the town is ... ”, “The town’s parks and recreation opportunities can be improved by ... ”, and “When planning the future of the town’s parks and recreation opportunities, we need to consider ... ”

Downey said there are no wrong answers and the public input collected would only contribute to the possibilities.

“The public should have input on the services and facilities they are using or need,” he added. “They are part of the puzzle we are trying to put together.”

In addition to the professional consultations, research and general public input, the town will host a series of focus groups in the fall to include local organizations and sport groups.

Drafts of the master plans are expected to be available for review at a public meeting Nov. 26.

Those who can’t make the kickoff can have their say by taking an online community survey until Sept. 28.