HOW WOULD YOU USE THE OPEN SPACE PROPERTIES?

Thank you to everyone who took the time on Saturday to attend the public open house at the Enfield Fire Hall. It was great to hear your ideas, comments, and concerns about the open space properties in Enfield "North."


If you were unable to attend the event this past weekend, you still have an opportunity to share your thoughts and ideas about how best to use the municipally-owned open space properties. These properties are currently undeveloped, and there is some interest among residents to see one or more of them put to use for the neighbourhood. 


We heard from a number of residents on Saturday. People brought forth various concerns about the properties. Many community members expressed their interest in seeing natural areas conserved, especially wetland areas. We also heard a lot of concern about safety and vandalism. These issues will certainly affect any plan we propose. 


There were also some great ideas for how to use some of these properties. Residents expressed interest in seeing some form of recreational space being developed, including playgrounds,  walking and jogging trails, community gardens, and natural playscapes. Many other ideas were floating around -- this is only a fraction of what we heard.


But call us greedy, because we'd like more! In the next two weeks, we want to hear more from residents. Send us your ideas about how you would like these sites used. If you could choose how to develop these properties for the neighbourhood's use, what would you do? Would you leave it as it is? Put in a tennis court? Clear a trail for cross-country skiing? 


We'd also like to know how you use the neighbourhood for recreation purposes now. Do you walk in the woods? Jog along the streets? Do you use the school playgrounds? Play street hockey? Knowing how you use the neighbourhood now will help us identify ways to improve recreation and open space amenities in the community.


Please, send us an email, join in the discussions on our Facebook page "Enfield North Open Space Plan," or leave a comment on this blog. 


Over the next three weeks, we are going to take these ideas and concerns, and develop some initial concepts of how to use the open space properties in your neighbourhood. We will present these rough ideas at a community meeting on Tuesday, March 8th at the Enfield Fire Hall beginning at 7:30pm for additional feedback.


If you have any questions about this process, or would like additional information, please don't hesitate to contact us by email at tamarack.ns@gmail.com.