Tuesday, October 2 ~ West Shore.
by Mary P Brooke
An updated, balanced 2018 budget for West Shore Parks & Recreation (WSPR) has been unanimously approved by Councils in all five member municipalities of Colwood, Highlands, Langford, Metchosin and View Royal.
This is considered to be a significant step forward for the organization whose owners have not always achieved consensus in the past.
Back in May 2018, the board (comprised of elected municipal councilors and public appointees from each of the five owner municipalities) was disbanded by its owner-municipalities, and the Chief Administrative Officers (CAOs) of each municipalities were assigned (as an interim board) the task of coming to an agreeable solution to best serve the five municipalities and their range of population demands and resources, notably with the preparation of a balanced budget.
“It demonstrates a renewed commitment to collaboration on the sustainable provision of West Shore Parks & Recreation services,” as was stated in a news release today.
The interim change in board membership was a key recommendation in ‘the Huggett report’ (by consultant Jonathan Huggett), an organizational review of West Shore Parks & Recreation commissioned by the City of Langford.
Langford with its growing population was seeing its financial contribution to WSPR increasing over the past few years but at the same time they were building their own sport and recreation facilities within their own municipality.
It was also thought that perhaps the various amenities and facilities under the WSPR umbrella (including arena, the Q Centre, and lower fields) weren’t being used in a way to generate the best possible revenues for maintaining the stability and growth of the important recreational that serves a wide range of roles and functions in the broader west shore community.
Revenues are generated as well from roadside LED signage at the 1767 Island Highway location in Colwood, and from the cafe in the rec center building lobby. Program admission fees are charged for a wide range of activities as outlined in the WSPR Activity Guide. www.westshorerecreation.ca