Robert Kirwan, Candidate for Councillor of
Ward 5, will be proposing that City Council devote the entire
amount of the Healthy Community Initiative Funds towards a full
scale $6 million upgrade of all of the neighbourhood playgrounds
located throughout the City of Greater Sudbury. By using the
$600,000 per year that has already been established as part of
the budget, the City would be able to borrow the funds needed to
complete all of the improvements by the end of 2016 and pay off
the entire loan within the next ten years.
No additional tax money would be required to complete
this initiative and if the City continues to devote the normal
amount of annual capital allocation there should be plenty of
money available to completely renew all of our playgrounds and
ensure that they meet the regulations of the Accessibility for
Ontarians with Disabilities Act.
According to the Greater Sudbury Parks, Open
Space and Leisure Master Plan which was presented to Council in
June 2014, many of the City’s playgrounds contain outdated and
outmoded play equipment, surface treatments, and pathways. The
review leading up to the final report demonstrated that 79% of
the people surveyed expressed considerable interest in improving
and/or expanding the level of service at playgrounds.
With a total of 179 playgrounds located
throughout the City of Greater Sudbury this amount of funding
would allow the City to create a comprehensive, city-wide
strategy that would allow us to ensure that fully equipped
accessible playgrounds are located within an 800 meter radius of
every urban residential neighbourhood without crossing a major
arterial road or physical barrier, which is the ultimate goal of
the Master Plan.
Kirwan feels that this would be a good use
for the Healthy Community Initiative Fund since it would
rejuvenate the neighbourhood playground associations and would
provide young children the kind of play and physical education
facilities that would be in the best interests of the entire
family. This would enable us to demonstrate to all newcomers and
people wishing to locate in the Greater Sudbury Area that we
truly are family-focussed and community minded.
For more information visit Robert Kirwan’s web site at
www.robertkirwan.ca
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