Parks plan review underway in Whitby

The Town of Whitby has launched its second wave of public consultation about their new parks plan to review the draft and see what residents want changed.

Whitby ran its first wave of consultation from December 2022 to February 2023. More than 4,000 people interacted with the initial information and feedback survey. However, only 1,400 of them completed the entire survey.

These respondents felt there was a major need for more park facilities and programs, particularly on weekends. More waterfront, benches and an indoor pool also came up as major wants in the poll. More than 90 per cent of respondents felt parks should be a top priority for council.

Since the survey wrapped, the town has developed an extensive, 160-page report on the engagement session findings. This draft plan “guides the Town in providing a range of healthy and active choices that engage all residents and ensures that Whitby continues to grow as an inclusive, environmentally sustainable, vibrant and economically strong community towards 2031.”

The report noted Whitby is set to greatly expand over the next decade as the Durham Region population swells to 1.5 million by 2050, according to regional estimates. Whitby specifically is set to grow 25 per cent to about 200,000 people by 2031.

The town has asked residents to review the draft plan to ensure it matches residents’ desires. The full plan is available online, as is the response survey.

“Feedback collected during this second phase of engagement will be used to finalize Whitby’s new Parks and Recreation Master Plan to be presented to Council for final approval later this year,” the town wrote, “Once complete, the Plan will present a vision, as well as long-term goals and objectives, for how the Town will continue to meet the recreational needs of our growing community well into the future.

According to Whitby, the plan is meant to address three key areas including;

• “the type and location of future park and recreational opportunities and amenities required to support Whitby’s quality of life;
• service standards, policies, and programs for parks and recreation facilities and services; and
• required improvements to parks, trails, and open spaces.”