See the full Parks, Culture & Recreation Master Plan here!
Community engagement session were held February 20 and 21, 2015. Here's what community has told us so far: PCRMP Interim Report
Recreation contributes to vibrant and engaged communities. It fosters personal, social, economic, and environmental well-being.
In Devon, recreation is an essential community service as it adds to our quality of life, strengthens relationships, contributes to our sense of belonging, provides opportunities to participate for those who are less fortunate, stimulates the local economy, and protects the environment.
More than sport, recreation includes a broad range of artistic, creative, cultural, intellectual, physical, and social activities which “make leisure time more interesting, enjoyable and personally satisfying”. (Interprovincial Sport and Recreation Council, 1987.)
Purpose of the master plan
Ultimately, the Devon Master Plan seeks to: maximize the quality of life in Devon by working with its citizens to ensure a community-driven, future focused direction for parks, culture, and recreation.
As a result, we are using a community development approach that will prioritize the engagement of a wide variety of stakeholders engaged and “owning” the process.
While Town staff and some outside expertise are being engaged, they are focused on (1) designing a citizen-driven process that will allow for the co-creation of a Master Plan and (2) gathering data and information that will be needed to help stakeholders make informed decisions. For instance, information related to demographics, trends, opportunities, etc.
Steps 1 - 5: Ensure Engagement 1. Ignite and invite others to participate 2. Share strengths and successes 3. Research your community 4. Define priorities 5. Engage others who need to be involved
Steps 6 – 8: The Traditional Approach 6. Define vision, values and priorities 7. Describe purpose 8. Identify outcomes
Steps 9 – 10: After the Plan 9. Develop strategies and take action 10. Learn, celebrate, and tell the story
Service Excellence data collection is complete A master plan planning framework has been developed A communications plan has been developed The phone survey is complete Literature review and research has been undertaken of other municipal recreation plans, national and provincial initiatives, best practices, and future recreation trends, analytical processes Dates have been set for stakeholder & community engagement
Conduct the community engagement sessions Recreation trends research Analyse and interpret results Develop concept plans for parks & open spaces Conduct internal meetings Prepare draft master plan