Several delegates spoke at city hall on Wednesday about Regina’s playground situation. That included Connie Buchan of the Regent Park Community Association. “The current rules and regulations regarding the upgrading and building of playgrounds in Regina is unworkable. The lack of flexibility and common sense in these standards makes it so that very few playgrounds will be built in Regina within my lifetime, or even within the lifetime of people who are children right now,” she said. City administration laid out several options to executive committee in terms of the future layout for Regina’s playgrounds. Option one, recommended to executive committee by city administration, includes a total annualized life cycle cost of $3.3 million, and would bring the total number of city owned playgrounds to 103. Ward 5 City Coun. Sarah Turnbull says it was one of the most well thought out plans she can remember during her time with the city. “It really took in all the community advice. It really looked at all the standards. The amount of maps, the amount of thoughtfulness to which locations and the maintenance it took into account every single criteria,” she said. City administration laid out six options in total and Buchan was in favour of option four. She is in the process of trying to make sweeping improvements to the playground equipment at McNaughton Park, but the bill for those upgrades is currently hovering around $300,000. Buchan told executive committee that she is in favour of that option because it would reduce the annualized life cycle cost by $1.1 million, and that in turn would save community associations money when it comes to developing playgrounds. “Using our development in McNaughton Park as an example, the price tag would go from the current $300,000 back down to the 150 to $200,000 we had originally budgeted for our plan,” she said. The committee ended up carrying forward the motion for option one unanimously. Regina Mayor Chad Bachynski said it was the best option when taking into account accessibility, affordability and the bigger picture. “Playgrounds are one component. I mean, we have roads to talk about, we have underground infrastructure to talk about, we have 60 plus services that we have to deliver on. So, I think we have to be mindful about making sure that we have the right services in the right places around the city. The plan’s financial component will be discussed as part of the city’s 2028 budget.
