City of Victoria - Parks Master Plan

Departments > Parks, Recreation and Community Development > Parks Division > Parks Master Plan

The City of Victoria is undertaking its first Parks Master Plan! This plan will be a high level strategic document that:

provides a vision and clear sense of direction for City of Victoria Parks
integrates parks planning with other City plans and initiatives
identifies and addresses public needs and priorities
guides the City to achieve high standards for public parks and greenspaces
provides direction for environmental protection

The Parks Master Plan will be an important management tool for the City and it will form the foundation for more specific plans, policies and procedures. Most importantly, it will make the plans, intentions and actions of the City of Victoria, with respect to public parks and greenspaces, more transparent to citizens.

A Parks Master Plan Steering Committee was appointed by City Council in late 2006 and work is now well underway! Over the next 12-18 months, the steering committee will be developing and implementing a consultation process to gather public input regarding how Victoria’s park system should function and develop in the future. The City's website will be updated regularly to advertise public consultation events.

Parks 4 Us : Children and Youth Forum on Saturday, September 22nd

On Saturday, September 22nd the City co-hosted an event for children and youth to gather their views and ideas about how Victoria's parks should be developed and improved in the future.

The event would not have been possible without the support of many committed volunteers. The Parks 4 Us: Children and Youth Forum was facilitated by professionals with backgrounds in education, recreation and ecology. The morning was dedicated to small group discussions and activities with the young participants and in the afternoon a panel of experts reviewed the input from the children and youth and formulated recommendations for consideration by the Parks Master Plan Steering Committee. Attached below is a brief slide show depicting some of the highlights of the event and a summary of the findings and recommendations.

Slides - [PPT 814KB]
Summary - [PDF 96KB]

March 17th Parks Planning Workshop - Results

On Saturday, March 17, 2007 (Saint Patrick's Day), the City of Victoria hosted a Parks Master Planning Workshop to engage the community in a visioning session for Victoria's Parks System. Approximately 135 people participated in activities and exercises which were designed to capture the spirit of hopefulness, dreaming and good fortune which are associated with Saint Patrick's Day.

After hearing a presentation from UBC Landscape Architecture Associate Professor, Douglas Patterson, participants envisioned what the ideal parks system for Victoria would look like 25 years from now. Some other areas of discussion and exploration included:

Trends likely to Impact Victoria's Parks System
Current Strengths in the Parks Division
Current Weaknesses in the Parks Division.

A brief slide show of the workshop is attached below.

Slide Show (20 slides) [PPT 3.52MB]
Exit Survey Results [PDF 169KB]
Rainbow Visioning Exercise Results [PDF 94KB]
Brainstorming Exercise Results [PDF 106KB]

Neighbourhood Consultation

During the month of May, six workshops were held in various locations around the City to explore Park issues that exist at the neighbourhood level. These meetings were a great source of local wisdom. The feedback received at these meetings has been compiled into draft inventories which are attached below: