The Thompson-Nicola Regional District is inviting the public to help shape future planning of TNRD parks and trails.
Until April 14th, people are being encouraged to review the TNRD’s draft Parks and Trails Strategic Plan and provide feedback.
The document was completed after a first round of public consultation, engagement with stakeholders and First Nations, research, analysis, and discussions with staff and elected officials through the Parks and Trails Strategic Plan Development Committee.
Community Service Coordinator Sherri Madden says this Plan will guide the management, operations, and development of TNRD parks and trails over the next 10 years. “So, now that the plan has been developed, we’re looking to put it back out to the residents to get their feelings on whether or not we’ve hit the mark, and to provide any other input that they feel might be relevant to the plan to ensure that we’re successful.”
The draft Plan evaluates existing TNRD parks and trail assets, identifies opportunities for future park developments and potential partnerships, makes recommendations for prioritizing future projects, and more.
“We started the process, actually back in May of last year,” said Madden. “With our first public engagement in September and October, and then, of course, giving time to the contractor to develop the plan. Now we’re going into our second round of engagement, which will close on April 14, and then we anticipate that the final plan will be ready for review and hopefully adoption by our board sometime this summer.”
“We’ve held numerous virtual workshops and engaged with First Nations and put out the surveys which have enabled people to have their feedback, and then through the second round, we’ll be doing the same so we recognize that there will probably be people who still feel that we didn’t hit the mark or they didn’t get their say. We always seem to miss out on some people, but we’re trying to get it out there as broadly as we can in order to give people opportunity, that’s for sure, and people can go online.”
“There’s definitely sometimes differing opinions on what we should be doing in certain areas, but this is more of a higher level plan, like you say the TNRD is a vast area encompassing 11 municipalities, 10 electoral areas, and also inclusive of 25 First Nations. So trying to meet everybody’s objectives and keep everybody happy, that wouldn’t be realistic. But we’re aiming to hit as many of the marks as we can, and then as we drill down from the priorities that will come out of the plan. That’s when we’ll get into more local feedback and stuff on specific projects and be able to address some of those more direct concerns at that time.”
For more information about the TNRD Parks and Trails Strategic Plan, and to access the survey and open house links, visit: tnrd.ca/parks-strategy.
Following this round of public consultation, the final Parks and Trails Strategic Plan is expected to be adopted by summer 2025.
Currently, the TNRD parks system includes 12 Community Parks and Trails, three Regional Parks, and 19 undeveloped parks, which are primarily parcels of land dedicated as park space within subdivisions. Parks range in size from 0.09 hectares to 109 hectares.
The network is spread across five of the TNRD’s ten electoral areas, and consists of:
- Parks ranging in size from 0.09 hectares to 109 hectares
- Two Regional Parks
- 11 Community Parks
- The Blue River Trails Network
- The South Thompson Buoy System
- 19 undeveloped parks, which are primarily “Subdivision Parks”
TNRD park lands account for less than one-tenth of 1% of the total TNRD land base.
Residents are invited to review the Plan and participate in public consultation through the following options:
- Online Survey: Open until April 14, 2025. To take this short survey, click here.
- Virtual Open House: April 8, 2025, 6:00 – 7:30 pm. At this open house, the draft Plan will be shared beginning at 6:00 pm, and members of the public will be able to ask questions and provide feedback. To register for this open house, click here.
