By Mark Allan - Comox Valley Record

Several years of work by Village of Cumberland staff to produce a parks and greenways master plan is nearing fruition.

Planner Judy Walker presented council Monday with the draft of a document that has been in the works since 2006, when the planner of the day initiated a discussion with interested people.

“In Cumberland, we have a great land base for parks, but we don’t have a wide range of parks,” Walker began at a committee of the whole meeting.

Larger parcels would allow for greater diversity, she told council.

Walker cited Maple Lake as being important, which sparked debate. It has been a challenge for council due to unapproved and inappropriate use.

“It’s important to gain it as a park,” Walker said.

“I’ve been told it will not be a provincial park due to a lack of funds,” Coun. Leslie Baird stated.

Coun. Kate Greening said she would like to see a bicycle path all the way down to the traffic light on the Comox Valley Parkway at the Cumberland Road turnoff.

That might connect with Courtenay’s bike network, suggested Mayor Fred Bates.

The draft report lists 16 parks in Cumberland’s inventory, although not all of them are officially named.

The report lists eight categories, from pocket parks to provincial ones. It includes short-, medium- and long-term objectives for all existing parks as well as proposing 14 new parks and greenways.

Walker’s report to council noted that the 2010 draft document is an update of a 2007 first draft that was presented to the existing council in 2007 and to the public at two open houses and two town hall meetings.

A bylaw to harmonize a parks and greenway master plan with the Official Community Plan would need to come before council, she continued.

“Parks and recreation are documented as being critical to the integrity of the neighbourhoods within the village, including policies to ensure neighbourhood park area is required (cash or land); to restrict loss of public lands; to support the CVRD Greenways Plan; and to continue to pursue the establishment of the Wellington Colliery railway right-of-way for a linear parkway,” Walker wrote in the preamble to the draft report.

Those objectives are covered in the OCP’s third goal, residential growth management.

Council agreed with Walker’s recommendation to direct staff to prepare a parks and greenway bylaw for the next council meeting, which is scheduled for Monday.