MONCTON – The city of Moncton is conducting public consultations on proposed changes they are making to three parks.
Nadine Melanson-LeBlanc, community development officer for the department of parks and leisure, says the city has been handing out door-knockers to residents in the neighbourhoods around each park and are encouraging residents to go on the city’s website to view the proposed changes.
“All of our renovations are all based out of the recreation master plan, which was something that was adopted by council in 2010,” she said. ‘We’re looking at public input for it and we’re looking at the appropriate concepts. We have received feedback from the public in the past, but we’re looking to get some new updates.”
The first park doesn’t exist yet, and would be built in an empty lot on Holland Drive in Moncton’s north end. The city is proposing installing play equipment, benches, trees and a connection to the Northwest Trail. They are also looking for a name for the new park.
The second park is René-Arthur Fréchet Park on Centre Street. They are proposing a number of changes, including converting the existing wading pool into a splash pad and halving the size of the basketball court to allow for more open green space.
“With a wading pool, you need someone with a key to have access, so you’re limited in terms of the amount of hours you can access the pool,” she said. “By having a splash pad, when you get home from work, you can either bring your kids or your grand-kids and have access to it, and same for the weekends.”
She said the city has received feedback from residents that they want the basketball court to stay the same size.
“That’s what we want, is for people to tell us ‘yes we support it’ or ‘no we don’t’ and why is important too,” Melanson-LeBlanc said. “We’re hearing that a lot of people would like the full court because some of the little kids actually learn how to drive their bikes on half and then the other half might be for kids who like to play 3-on-3.”
The third park is Valhalla Park on Monte Carlo Crescent. The city wants to replace the current play structure with a new one, and add a splash pad along with changes to fix current drainage issues.
Public consultation closes on Friday, May 1 and Melanson-LeBlanc said people can participate through the website. She said the city can send out paper forms to anyone who wishes to submit a written application without using the Internet.
“At the end of the day, we’re going to look at all the surveys that have come in and really compile all the information to go with the majority of what people would like in their neighbourhood,” she said.
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