Created in May 2016, the Parks, Recreation & Culture Master Plan was developed for the Town of Ladysmith to provide guidance over the next ten plus years for parks, trails, recreation and cultural facilities and amenities as well as programs and services. The Plan is based on the needs and desires of the community supported by professional analysis and consideration of population and sector trends.

The Town has a long history of active volunteers that have served to enrich the parks, recreation and cultural experiences in the town. An important component in the development of this plan was to ensure that the entire community was given the opportunity to provide their thoughts on the future of parks, recreation and culture in the Town of Ladysmith.

Various methods were used to engage community members and collect information. They included focus group workshops, interviews with community leaders, discussions with staff and elected officials, a community survey and a public open house. The consulting team also spent time in the community touring the parks, and facilities and gathering information on programs, activities, and services.

Created in August 2018, the Ladysmith Youth Plan provides the community with an inspiring and realistic roadmap for the future of youth resources and services to which all participants and stakeholders are fully committed. 

Over several months, youth and community members were engaged in a public process that invited participation from a broad spectrum of folks interested in taking a critical look at what we currently offer youth in Ladysmith and creating a vision for where we could be in the future. The plan examines identified strengths and challenges, highlights key focus areas with rationale and provides recommendations to move the plan forward. We are proud to share the plan that has been enthusiastically adopted by Council (August 2018) and are looking forward to next steps as we work toward the recommendations of the plan. We’re looking forward to creating exciting new opportunities for YOUth in Ladysmith.

The Ladysmith Public Art Strategy process began in September 2018 with community engagement and involvement being a top priority. Creative grass roots community-based research shaped and defined the outcomes of the report, with guiding principles, recommendations for next steps, and measuring success being tailored specifically to Ladysmith and it’s diverse population.

Details of the report include: the community engagement process, public art definition, inventory of existing public art in Ladysmith, best practices, process for receiving donations and gifts, implementation strategy and recommendations for next steps.

The Cowichan Valley Regional District and its member municipalities (Municipality of North Cowichan, Town of Ladysmith, Town of Lake Cowichan, City of Duncan) recognize the importance of indoor and outdoor recreational opportunities to residents. Over the past year the partners have undertaken a regional recreation planning initiative to assess the current state of recreation in the region and strategically plan for the future. The final phase of this planning initiative was to develop a Regional Recreation Strategic Plan that will guide future service delivery and collaborations. 

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The objective of the Lot 108 Park Plan Update is to set the direction for the future development of Lot 108 Park and outline strategies for phasing development to take advantage of opportunities, as they arise. A key purpose of this plan is to enable the Town and community organizations to apply for grant funding. Order of magnitude costs are provided to support funding efforts. 

The project was undertaken in five phases, including two rounds of engagement with stakeholders and updates to Council. The design team worked closely with Town of Ladysmith staff to ensure that all relevant information was accounted for and engagement input and feedback was considered.

In recent years, identifying potential uses at the park, recreational bike trails were added through a collaborative effort between the Town and the Cowichan Trail Stewardship Society Ladysmith Chapter and many youth from the community.  The Ladysmith Resources Centre Association currently operates the Storybook Walk Through, a Memorandum of Understanding with the Town.  Both amenities provide opportunities  for families and youth to gather as community. The Kinsmen playground is the centre of most of the parks activities.