News Release - July 12, 2017

Survey Results for the District 69 Recreation Master Plan Now Available

The Regional District of Nanaimo (RDN) is in the process of developing a new Recreation Services Master Plan for District 69 (Oceanside). The Master Plan will provide a long-term strategic plan for the delivery of recreation services and will help guide future decision making and actions in a number of key areas including infrastructure needs and programming partnerships.

Engagement with residents is a key aspect of the project and in February, a survey was launched to capture public feedback on current recreation services and ideas on how those services can be improved. The full report on key findings can be found at www.rdn.bc.ca/recreationmasterplan.

Key Findings:

• Recreation opportunities are viewed as important by 98 per cent of District 69 residents.
• Residents also see the value and attractiveness these opportunities bring to the region overall.
• Overall satisfaction with recreation services and facilities in District 69 is 80 per cent. This has increased from 67 per cent in 2006 when the last master plan was developed.
• Reasons for participating in recreation activities vary, but are predominantly for: health and exercise, entertainment, relaxation and time with family and friends.
• The top six barriers to participation in descending order are: lack of facilities, age/health issues, inconvenient times, location of facilities, cost and lack of time.

Survey results were presented to the Board at the Committee of the Whole meeting on July 11. The next steps include public open houses and online community engagement this fall with a completed draft Master Plan scheduled to be presented to the Board in March 2018. For more information, visit www.rdn.bc.ca/recreationmasterplan.

Contact:

Dean Banman
Manager, Recreation Services
Regional District of Nanaimo
250-248-3252
dbanman [at] rdn.bc.ca (dbanman[at]rdn[dot]bc[dot]ca)