By Councillor Iona Stoddard
Happy Spring! April is a busy month, especially for our diverse religious communities celebrating Ramadan, Easter, and Passover. Our diversity is one of our greatest strengths, we wish each community a special time celebrating with their family and friends during these sacred times. As we approach warmer weather, keep an eye out for more events and opportunities to connect with your community – particularly in some of the beautiful parks and trails District 12 has to offer!
DISTRICT UPDATES
I would like to thank every resident who participated in the Clayton Park Area Recreation Survey!
In 2008 the Community Facility Master Plan provided recommendations to the Regional Council related to community recreation facility development in Halifax Regional Municipality. This plan outlined the “Hub and Spoke” recreation service delivery concept for recreation facilities. Mainland North (Hub – Canada Games Centre) is moving forward with the implementation of the Hub & Spoke Service Delivery model in the communities of Clayton Park, Fairview, Beechville, Lakeside, and Timberlea.
The goal of the Hub and Spoke model is to align programming in a region, identifying gaps in service, what’s working well and where recreation opportunities are occurring. Steps in the project include the Clayton Park Recreation Needs Assessment Survey, a Recreation Service Provider Questionnaire, a program analysis of what is offered in the community, and an inventory of all indoor and outdoor facilities and amenities that serve the community.
Analysis of the survey responses will inform the overall program analysis so we can continue to work collaboratively with other recreation service providers, schools, churches and libraries to avoid program duplication and ll in the gaps, growing recreation service delivery in the community.
MUNICIPAL BUDGET
Regional Council have been working diligently to review each department’s budget. Final budget approval is expected to come at the April 25th meeting of the Regional Council. I want to thank the many people who wrote, called and attended budget meetings to share your feedback on our budget priorities. It has been a long and extensive process, but your Regional Council is doing everything we can to keep taxes low while maintaining the services we all need. You can find out more about the budget process at halifax.ca/budget.
CONTACT ME
Follow me on Facebook and Twitter where I share regular updates. You can also read my monthly e-newsletters at halifax.ca or have them sent right to your inbox by contacting eric.bowdridge@halifax.ca However, if you have questions, contact me directly at 902-240-7926 or via email iona.stoddard@ halifax.ca.
