You may remember the Sesame Street song “who are the people in your neighbourhood?”
But never mind that — do you even know which neighbourhood in North Battleford you are in?
Perhaps not, but you might soon find out. In his monthly monitoring report before council Monday, Community Safety Co-ordinator Herb Sutton mentioned that a new initiative is being discussed to create some formalized “neighbourhoods” within the city.
The idea has been discussed at the Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design committee table recently
CPTED has been promoting efforts such as more block parties to encourage local residents to look out for their neighbours and cut down on criminal activity. The idea is that a more formalized neighbourhood system could build on the efforts already underway to encourage people to get to know each other and their neighbours.
It’s not as if there aren’t neighbourhoods already in the city. Some are identifiable such as Killdeer Park, Fairview Heights, Riverview and so on. But Sutton told council not all neighbourhoods in the city are necessarily well known.
The talk at the CPTED table was about creating a more formalized neighbourhood system that people could identify. A more formal system could also figure into disaster-response plans for protective services as well.
The thinking at this point, Sutton told council, is this could be used as an engagement opportunity and that the neighbourhoods would be developed “with the community members, not impose it on them.”
The proposal is still in its early stages and Sutton says more details would be brought back to council at a later date.
