A complete community plan could be coming for the Woodgrove neighbourhood, with new provincial money aimed at seeing what is needed. The red circle represents a roughly 15-minute walking radius from Aulds Rd. at Old Island Hwy. (Google Maps)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

walking distance

Provincial money coming to development of Woodgrove ‘complete community’

Nov 2, 2023 | 2:30 PM

NANAIMO — Provincial funding is being set aside locally for a closer look at the prospect of a Woodgrove “complete community”.

A $200,000 grant was given jointly to the City and Regional District of Nanaimo through the Union of B.C. Municipalities to fund the study, which will look at potential strengths, challenges, and opportunities in the Woodgrove area.

The assessment will identify among other things, housing needs, current and future connections between destinations through transit or other active transportation, and services required in the region.

“An important part of supporting and creating complete communities is developing well-connected active transportation and transit networks,” Vanessa Craig, RDN board chair, said. “This grant will help the RDN and the City of Nanaimo continue to work together to improve ways we travel to, and within, the Woodgrove Area.”

A complete community is defined by the province as a concept where several key services are available within a 15 to 20-minute walk of an area’s central location.

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Ideally, schools, recreation diverse housing, libraries, parks and access to both transportation and nature are all included.

“The concept behind a complete community is quite simple – create well-planned neighbourhoods that allow people to live, work, and access services close to home,” Mayor Leonard Krog, said. “Beyond the concept though, there’s a lot of complexity and a grant like this is a great step towards making complete communities happen.”

The complete community concept is occasionally twisted and referred to as “15-minute cities”, and has been mistakenly linked to a widely shared conspiracy about government wanting to control the movement of citizens and curtail individual freedoms.

Several investigations into the concept and complete communities already in place in cities across multiple countries, including major centres such as Paris, France, have not reported any reduction of movement in its citizens or erosion of personal freedoms.

More information on the B.C. Government’s complete communities goals are available here.

The Woodgrove area is one of seven identified by the City in their recently completed City Plan as an urban centre where a majority of future growth will be concentrated.

Others include Nanaimo North, Country Club, Hospital, University, Southgate and the Downtown.

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