Since incorporation and throughout the Council strategic planning processes, Council has taken a proactive approach to parks in our community. Examples of this can be found in the District Official Community Plan Bylaw No. 93 s. 5.8 Parks, Trails, and Recreation, further examples are:
- Acquiring Bampton Recreation Park (beside Dutch Lake Beach)
- Significant upgrades to Rotary Sports Park;
- Partnership to build Dragon Fly splash park;
- Adoption of the Trails Master Plan and further implementation of the trails network;
- Advocating to Provincial Ministries for long term improvements to the River Road, access to Trophy Mountain Meadows, funding to maintain and upgrade Wells Gray Provincial Park
“The Council’s has the community’s best interest in mind at all times, however, in order to submit an offer on the Lake Summit property (DL 2280) and recognizing the limitation of our tax base, Council worked diligently to garner alternative sources to taxation to acquire funds without success.”
– Mayor Harwood
In fall of 2017, Council worked with alternate sources to garner funding (not using taxation) and submitted an offer for the initial purchase of the property located at Lake Summit (DL 2280), this offer was not accepted. Council is cognizant that the costs to purchase this land go far beyond the initial purchase price – rezoning the property from residential to park status, amending the official community plan, park status eliminates collection of property taxes on the land, fuel mitigation is required, development of the park ie: trails, continuous danger tree abatement, and general long-term maintenance. All that must be taken into consideration and balanced with competing budget requirements.