Moose Jaw residents can now have their say on the final draft of the city's 10-year Parks and Recreation Master Plan.

The goal of the plan was to create a user-friendly document that provides planning guidelines and recommendations for the Parks and Recreation Department over the next decade.

The city has worked with EDS Group Inc. and Quantum Recreation since April of 2022 to gather input from residents and stakeholders. Community feedback has been implemented into the final draft of the plan, which currently has over 40 recommendations.

"A couple of the big focuses early on is going to be having a good look at our existing assets and renewal activities. You'll see within the plan some recommendations to replace the outdoor pool, look at some of our other aging facilities such as the Golden Ticket Sports Centre, Memorial Field, and our aging ball diamonds," said Derek Blais, Director of Parks and Recreation.

He says the timing of the plan is very important as we're coming out of the pandemic, adding a lot of people's routines and habits have changed which has led to new trends.

"One of the key recommendations within the plan is the development of a trails master plan which is actually underway," added Blais. "We received some grant funding for that in 2022 and we've just had a project takeoff meeting in early December, so the community can expect some further information coming out as we begin to develop a Trails and Pathways Master Plan that really focuses on active transportation within the community but really having a long term plan for our trail connectivity, improving our accessibility."

The last time the Parks and Recreation Master Plan was updated was back in 1976.

The public comment period is open until January 23, 2023. The plan will be finalized and presented to city council for formal adoption in February 2023.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW A COPY OF THE FINAL DRAFT OF THE PARKS AND RECREATION MASTER PLAN