Belfountain Complex Management Plan - Enhancing a century-old park

NRU
Dec. 17, 2014
By Leah Wong

Last week Credit Valley Conservation presented the first phase of its Belfountain Complex Management Plan, which was the first public consultation on the plan.

Work on the plan has been underway since the start of the year and throughout the process the conservation authority has been consulting with its stakeholder advisory committee. The consultation was an opportunity for the conservation authority to share with the public its vision for the project.

“[The plan] is still in the initial phases,” CVC conservation lands planner Laura McDonald told NRU. “From the consultation we were looking to get some immediate feedback.”

The Belfountain Complex comprises three diverse properties-Belfountain Conservation Area, Cox property and Willoughby property. The 13-hectare Belfountain Conservation Area is used for activities such as hiking and picnicking. It was first opened to the public in 1914. At 39 hectares Willoughby is the largest property in the complex. It is owned by the Ontario Heritage Trust and managed by the CVC. Its uses are limited to hiking along the two connections to the Bruce Trail running through the property. The Cox property, which is 4 hectares, is not currently open to the public.

“We’re trying to go with a cultural heritage theme of the century park-Belfountain has been around for a century,” said McDonald. “We want to have a consistent aesthetic in terms of the infrastructure that is built and our ancillary features such as picnic tables.”

Since the plan will include a number of smaller projects, such as landscaping and gardens, the consultation offers an opportunity to tell the public about some of the initial projects without getting into specific design details and locations.

McDonald said feedback was mixed for some of the larger projects, such as improving the parking area to make it more efficient. Also, as the complex is located within a small hamlet, there are some concerns about an increased number of visitors, though this is not a priority of the conservation authority.

“The objective for the property does not include more visitations. Really, we’re trying to manage what’s already there,” she said. “We want to ensure better visitor experiences.”

One of the other larger projects being proposed is building a new visitor centre, which will include space for educational programming and meetings. McDonald said this will add new sustainable recreation opportunities, which is a goal of the conservation authority. The plan is to make the new centre more accessible and to incorporate low-impact design principles.

The conservation authority is moving into its strategic direction phase, which will involve putting together a report with initial recommendations for the site and proposed projects. This will inform the concept plan designs, which are expected to be presented to the public during another round of consultations in spring 2015. Preferred design options will be selected following the second round of consultation and included in the final management plan.