City Of Courtenay Asking ‘What’s In Your Dream Playground?’

The City of Courtenay wants to know what your dream playground is.

The “Let’s Play, Courtenay!” project will create new playground design standards for City playgrounds.

The first phase of the project is running from now until February 16th - as the city looks for feedback in an online survey. 

Courtenay Mayor Bob Wells says the new standards will include information about what materials to use, which activities to include in a play area, where to put planting or furnishings, and how to make playgrounds fun for everyone. He says staff would like to hear from everyone - from kids to grandparents.

The City says it will be consulting with community partners, including schools, Indigenous organizations, accessibility advocates, and groups specializing in child, youth, and family supports.

There will be a second survey opportunity in the spring for the community to review the draft standards before they are finalized.

Once complete, the new standards will be used by planners, designers, and builders when building new playgrounds or upgrading existing ones.

The new standards will be put to use immediately, as the City of Courtenay has allocated an extra $1 million in grant funding from the Province of BC Growing Communities Fund for Courtenay playgrounds over the next two years.

Planning for specific playgrounds across the city will happen over time as they are upgraded or developed. The number of playgrounds installed or upgraded each year is based on the City’s annual budget.

The project builds on work completed for other City plans that identified opportunities for improvements to parks and playgrounds, including the Official Community Plan completed in 2022, and the Parks and Recreation Master Plan completed in 2019.

To learn more, visit City of Courtenay.