A recreation and culture survey was recently held in Rossland. The results have been compiled and will be presented to council on Monday, November 26 at their regular meeting. The public engagement process was held to determine recreation priorities and gage the community’s feelings on how much they’re willing to spend. The survey was held throughout the summer and fall of this year and participation was higher than expected with 937 valid responses.
73 per cent said they use private businesses and organization facilities and 72 per cent say they use the Rossland trail network, which are the most used sources of recreation. Outside of Rossland, 45 per cent say they use the Trail Aquatic Centre.
The community is somewhat divided on many of the big decisions. 89 per cent want to see the Rossland Arena continue in some capacity as a recreation facility, but whether that should include ice production, 55 per cent said it should continue and 45 per cent said it shouldn’t. Regarding the pool, only 42 per cent of respondents want to see it remain open. 58 per cent want to see it close; however, 26 per cent said only if there was an alternative swimming option.
When asked about the Trail Recreation Program 47 per cent were strongly in favour of solving it and 32Â per cent were strongly opposed.
In terms of how recreation dollars should be spent, maintaining the existing trail network was the clear priority. The second highest priority was maintaining the existing fields and parks. The majority of respondents were in favour of a 0 to 3 per cent tax increase to support the ongoing maintenance of existing recreation facilities.
City staff have outlined opportunities for two upcoming grants available with respect to capital infrastructure projects for recreation. More will be discussed at Monday’s council meeting. It starts at 6:00pm in the Miner’s Union Hall. Click here to see the full agenda.
