The Town of Huntsville is asking residents about what it should invest in over the next decade.
Huntsville’s new Community Services Master Plan covers various public works programs and services in areas such as heritage sites, parks and recreation, and community events.
Town officials released a survey today asking residents for suggestions on what they’d like to see prioritized.
Huntsville Director of Community Services Simone Babineau says that with COVID-19 hopefully winding down this year, the town has an opportunity to look towards the future.
“I think it’s a really good exercise at this point in time to recover from this pandemic and look at recovering, rebuilding, reinventing,” she says. “You know, finding our resilience and being able to plan this for the next two, five, ten years.”
One of the biggest areas the town is looking to improve is parks and recreation.
“Ninety-eight per cent of Canadians believe that recreation and parks are an essential service, and I think that’s what we’ve learned through this whole last year and a half, that it is important for people for their physical and mental well-being,” Babineau says.
As such, the Town plans to reach out to various community groups such as local sports leagues and other active living organizations.
“This is about wanting Huntsville to be a place where people live, work, play, and visit, so we want to know how to best do that for our community,” says Babineau.
For the moment, Babineau says, the town is just trying to gather as much information as possible and is looking at mailing out the survey to residents.
“We’re trying to find other ways to make sure we reach every person that wants to contribute,“ she says.
Babineau says the Town expects to receive a report from consultants in early fall, and will present it to Council near the end of the year.
The survey closes June 20.