Overview

The City of Kamloops Parks Department for the last several months has, as per Kamloops City Council recommendation, been in consultation with the Kamloops Disc Golf Club and the Kamloops Naturalists Club to determine the best course of action for the former McArthur Island Golf Course site. The Parks Department conducted their own research into the topic, and following this consultation the Parks Department has come to the conclusion that the best use of the property is to have it be a multi-use park including disc golf, walking and biking trails, nature education and protection features, historical education features, picnic areas, and more. These features have all been proven to coexist with each other in an effective and safe way that provides benefits to all park users.

Benefits

The three main benefits of this proposal are as follows:

Economic benefit

Tournaments and recreational tourists will provide increased revenue to businesses in the area surrounding area, including restaurants and hotels. The proposal is cheaper to implement than the alternative options.

Crime prevention

As the golf course has been left stagnant and unused, delinquent activities have begun to take place. Needles and parts of guns have been found on the property and surrounding area. The use of the entire property at unpredictable times during the day will prevent this activity from occurring. The Kamloops Disc Golf Club has a proven track record of cleaning up and preventing unlawful activity in city parks and would bring this benefit to the McArthur Island.

Multi-Use and Accessibility

The parks department’s proposal for the site will have the most benefit to the most people. Having public access to the whole park and not fencing off large areas means that the public can interact with the green space. Furthermore, whether a user is a disc golfer, a bird-watcher, a family of 5 having a picnic, or anything in between, the park will remain usable to all for a wide variety of passive and recreational uses.

Petition

We the following passionately implore the Kamloops City Council to approve the full recommendation of the City of Kamloops Parks Department to create a multi-use park.