FALL RIVER: The local councillor is making sure recreational concerns are documented and well known to the parks and recreation director for HRM.
Steve Streatch said he was pleased that Brad Anguish, director of HRM Parks and Recreation, took him up on his offer to come out for a district tour of Waverley-Fall River-Musquodoboit Valley.
“We toured not only the Snow Centre, but we went to the Windsor Junction Community Centre, the Seniors Friendly Centre, and other facilities up towards Musquodoboit Valley,” he said. “Brad has a keen interest. I think he will be a good supporter of us in this area as it relates to going forward.”
He said said among the issues that he and Anguish discussed included how youth sporting groups that don’t have the same level of access to facilities in the area that others do.
“I believe in policies of inclusion and it would be my intent to open the doors to as many children as possible as it relates to recreational opportunities, not favouring one above and beyond the other,” said Streatch. “We talked about area rates, why some communities are funded through the general tax rate whereby all taxpayers in the HRM share in the cost of facilities, while other communities are sort of having to pay twice. They pay in their general rate and then on top of that they pay an area rate.
“It has been Brad’s experience, and he has told me that HRM has moved away significantly from area rating and that the municipality is much more open to providing service in all communities.”
Streatch discussed the proposal for water access through floating docks—or what some hope would be a beach—and it is something that should happen.
“There is money that has been made available from a previous commitment from council that will help enable that,” he said. “Brad talked to me about some of the logistics, his thoughts as to how we would be best to serve and how we would do that. He is supportive, as am I, in making that happen in the very near future.”
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