Claudia Culley
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Gabriola Sounder
The Regional District of Nanaimo’s 2025-29 capital plan outlines more than 70 recreational centre, regional park and community park and hall projects to be implements in the RDN’s municipalities and electoral areas, should the board approve their development.
The RDN board is using the projects on this plan to inform the 2026 budget and 2026-30 financial plan.
There are more than 20 regional parks projects on the capital plan, one of which is the Descanso Bay accessibility project. This project is currently underway and will see the addition of an 18-metre permanent aluminum ramp and seasonal mobility map, making the bay’s beach accessible to those with mobility challenges. The RDN has budgeted $200,000 towards the project in 2026.
The other regional park project on Gabriola is the Coats Marsh Regional Park weir decommissioning, which is also underway and budgeted $798,361.
Other projects include improvements to the Little Qualicum River Regional Park and shores, the Lighthouse Country Regional Trail in Qualicum Beach, Creekside Place parking and Mount Benson Regional Park and Benson View Regional Trail.
The total capital budgeted for regional parks projects is $53.5 million over five years. The RDN has also assessed the tariff risks for these projects, which are mainly all negligible.
The capital plan also outlines nine projects for Oceanside Place in Parksville, which are mainly amenity repairs and upgrades. These projects have been budgeted a total of about $4.4 million. Three projects have high tariff risks, while the others are either medium, low or negligible.
Ravensong Aquatic Centre in Qualicum Beach has seven projects on the capital plan, including a pool expansion and some maintenance projects. One air handling unit and heat pump replacement project is of high tariff risk, while the other projects are either medium or low risk. The total capital budgeted for Ravensong Aquatic Centre projects is $38.8 million.
Electoral Area A has one recreation and culture project on the plan — an upgrade to the Wellington Community Centre. The project is currently in progress and budgeted $3.6 million.
The capital plan also outlines community parks and halls projects for the RDN’s electoral areas.
EA B has several projects on the plan, including sporting amenity improvements and an active transportation feasibility study for the ferry hill. These projects have a total capital budget of almost $3 million and are of either low or negligible tariff risk.
For a story on the full breakdown of the EA B projects, see the story on page 2 of this Sounder.
EA A has seven projects, which include amenities for South Wellington Park, water access improvements and a feasibility and design project for the Cedar Village Community Trail. EA A projects are all negligible tariff risk and have been budgeted a total capital of $3 over five years.
EA C has four projects, which are mainly all community park improvements. These project all have negligible tariff risk and have been budgeted $1.3 million.
EA E has one project on the capital plan for the Jack Bagley Community Park, which is currently in progress and has a negligible tariff risk. The project has been budgeted $287,799.
There are four projects outlines for EA F, two of which are improvements for the Errington Community Park. These projects also have negligible tariff risks and have been budgeted $1.8 million.
EA G has six projects on the plan, which include replacements for the Neden Way and Dashwood playgrounds and a planning, trails, fencing and parking lot project for the French Creek Estuary Reserve. The RDN has budgeted about $1 million for EA G projects. All these projects have negligible tariff risks.
There are seven projects outlined for EA H, which have negligible tariff risks. Most of these projects are improvements to community parks and trails. These projects have been budgeted a total capital of $1.7 million.
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