Park Playground Design Standards

Start: November 2023

End:

Last Updated: March 19, 2024

Project Description:

The “Let’s Play, Courtenay!” project will create new playground design standards for City playgrounds. These are a set of steps the City will follow to make sure Courtenay’s playgrounds are designed and upgraded to best meet the needs of our community.

Project Status:

The first phase of the Let’s Play, Courtenay! project engagement period ended February 16, 2024. Winners of the prize draw have been contacted, and we thank everyone who participated in our Let's Play Courtenay survey and drawing contest!

Next Steps:

We will consider EVERYONE'S ideas received as we develop draft Park Playground Design Standards during Phase 2.

Update about what we heard during Phase 1 of the engagement process
Development of the draft Park Playground Design Standards including detailed recommendations
Phase 2 Public Engagement to review the draft Park Playground Design Standards document (this spring 2024)
Finalization of the Playground Design Standards
Continued updates posted to the Project webpage: www.courtenay.ca/letsplay

The final Playground Design Standards will support capital planning efforts by identifying guiding principles and best practices for future playground improvements that diversify play experiences and best meet the needs of the community.

The City will also be consulting with community partners, including schools, Indigenous organizations, accessibility advocates, and groups specializing in child, youth, and family supports.

The City will offer a second survey opportunity in the spring for the community to review the draft playground design standards before they are finalized. Once complete, the new standards will be used by planners, designers, and builders when building new playgrounds or upgrading existing playgrounds. The new design standards will be put to use immediately, as the City of Courtenay has allocated an extra $1 million in grant funding from the Province of BC Growing Communities Fund for Courtenay playgrounds over the next two years.

Planning for specific playgrounds across the city will happen over time as they are upgraded or developed. The number of playgrounds installed or upgraded each year is based on the City’s annual budget.

The Let’s Play, Courtenay! project builds on work completed for other City plans that identified opportunities for improvements to parks and playgrounds, including the Official Community Plan completed in 2022, and the Parks and Recreation Master Plan completed in 2019. In addition to these strategic documents, the following projects goals have been developed through a review of best practices: Playground Design Guiding Principles (Goals).pdf [PDF - 314 KB]