The public has a new way to flag ideas for Maffeo Sutton Park.
The City of Nanaimo has strung pennants along Maffeo Sutton Park bridges this week, and offered pens so people can write down ideas for the community’s most popular waterfront park.
The move comes as the city gauges reaction to options for a re-imagined Maffeo Sutton Park, in the lead up to an updated Maffeo Sutton Improvement Plan.
Different features are being pitched, from a different location for the children’s park, to piers and expanded beachfront, and the public is invited to weigh in on an online survey and open houses about what should stay in the final plan. Residents can also propose other ideas through the flags, a “fun” and “temporary” project to create opportunity for community dialogue and see if people want to be interactive and engaged, said Kirsty MacDonald, the city's parks and open space planner.
Within days of stringing them up, flags are almost full with a wish-list of a small boat ramp for the parking lot to renovated washrooms and an off-leash dog area.
“This is a bit of a test for us to try some new ways of getting people excited about what’s going on in the park,” said MacDonald, who’s impressed with the ideas.
“If there are reoccurring ideas that come up, certainly there’s still flexibility to edit, and the plan will be a flexible plan.”
Open houses happen Sept. 14 and 17 at Maffeo Sutton Park, from 11 a.m. until 7 p.m. To take a survey on the park improvements, or to see images of a re-imagined downtown park see http://goo.gl/4V5wMR.