The GCA Parks Committee’s input to the GCA’s March 2021 comments on the City of Ottawa Official Plan echoed many of the recommendations put forward in our Evergreen Plan for Glebe Parks. The committee was pleased to see an articulated commitment in the City of Ottawa’s proposed Official Plan 2021 to certain urban design first principles regarding new and existing inner urban and downtown core parks. The committee’s input re-iterated many of these first principles, along with suggestions where it thought stronger, more specific requirements or language was warranted in the OP. The proposed OP rightly acknowledged the necessity of preserving, enhancing, and promoting additions to Ottawa’s “incredible parks and greenspaces.” It duly recognized parks as an essential “cross-cutting issue” to be considered as part of all development decisions.
