Okotoks residents sent in their suggestions and requests for the future of the Town's recreation and were able to see the results Thursday night.

The Town's new Recreation, Parks & Leisure Master Plan was on display for the first time for residents to see up close what they'd like to see in the future.

Community Services Director Susan Laurin says the new approach for recreation in town takes plenty of time and plenty of public consultation.

"What it does is identifies those programs, services and amenities that we may need to want to consider and gives a priority to some of those things as well," she says.

Some of the highlights for needs from the public showed a high demand for more leisure swimming pools when it came to future indoor infrastructure and an overwhelming 80% of households that took part in the recreation questionnaire wanted more walking paths down the road.

Laurin says as the Town grows, they need to be strategic when building new communities especially with the annexation land coming in.

"We need to make sure we're providing those opportunities and that one of those priorities is that we move forward. If you're growing and you're developing all these new subdivisions don't just don't put in a hockey rink, make sire that you're also putting in parks, pathways and drop-in opportunities."

Laurin says the most important aspect from the recreation plan is the fact that it can be interchangable at anytime.

"As things change over the years and variables change we can be able to re-order and re-assess those priorities and that it is done in a very transparent manner so people can see the decision making process and how we're wadding different variables and we're adjusting as those times change."

To see the entire Recreation, Parks & Leisure Master Plan follow the link.

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