As we enter a new year, it is time to reflect on the past and look forward to the future.
It's a timely opportunity for your city council to consider what we've achieved during the past few years and what key tasks we still have ahead.
As always, we've placed a strong focus on planning for Richmond's future.
The primary building block was adoption of our Official Community Plan Update, which lays out a roadmap for the continued evolution of our city through to 2041.
It supports sustainable, smart growth that focuses new development in our city centre, so that we can protect existing single-family neighbourhoods, farmland and other open spaces.
Another critical part of our planning framework is the new Social Development Strategy.
We continue to see increasing strains on the social fabric in our community.
With senior governments failing to adequately address these issues, the city has taken a greater role, working with our community partners, to meet local social needs.
The Social Development Strategy provides us with goals and priorities over the next decade to ensure Richmond will continue to be an inclusive community with good quality of life for all. While council has started to lay the foundation for Richmond's future with
these plans, there is important work left to do. We need the community's input to keep moving forward.
Back in 2010, the city acquired the Garden City Lands, ensuring this priceless asset will remain under public control for community use.
For the past year, we've been engaged in a public planning process to develop a plan for the future of these lands.
In the coming months, we will be seeking further public input as we narrow down the options for these lands to arrive at a final master plan.
It's an extraordinary opportunity to be able to plan the future of 55-hectares (136 acres) of open, park space right in the heart of the city.
But what exactly it will look like is up to you. Make sure your voice is heard in shaping this great new central park for Richmond. Last fall, council also approved an ambitious new building program to continue replacing and updating key civic facilities. This includes replacing the Minoru Aquatic Centre, which is more than half a century old, is outdated and no longer adequate for our growing community.
We've also approved replacement of the existing Minoru Place Seniors Centre, which is simply too small to meet the needs of our rapidly growing population of older adults.
Both these new facilities are to be built by 2017. But while council has provided for the funding and selected a site for these two facilities, there are still many key decisions to be made.
We need to ensure the amenities and programs inside these two facilities are sufficient to meet the needs of our community for the next half century or longer.
It is critical we hear from our residents to ensure we provide the right mix of services within these new buildings.
As we move into the design phase for these facilities, we will be seeking your input.
Too often, we hear from a very small segment of the community when we conduct public consultation. But we want to hear from everyone, not just those with the loudest voices.
We try to address the needs of all our citizens, but if we don't hear from you, your concerns may not be reflected in council's decisions.
Don't miss your chance to be heard.
Watch our city website and local newspapers for upcoming opportunities for public input on these and other important projects.
Speak up, so we can make Richmond an even better place to live.
