Frequently asked questions

John Hendry Park is one of the City’s most popular parks. The last comprehensive plan for the park was completed in 1978. A renewal plan is an opportunity to understand how people feel about John Hendry Park and identify a broad range of recommendations that will create a healthy, thriving environment and recreation destination for the future.

Changing the name of the project from the John Hendry (Trout Lake) Park Master Plan to John Hendry (Trout Lake) Park Renewal Plan aligns the project more appropriately with the Park Board’s commitment to Reconciliation and Decolonization and reduces the use of colonial/settler-based terminology.

The John Hendry Park Renewal Plan will identify a broad range of recommendations that will guide park improvements over the next 20 years to ensure the park meets people’s expectation for one of the City’s most important parks, and Park Board and City initiatives.

There are multiple objectives guiding the development of the renewal plan including:

• Advance Reconciliation and Decolonisation: Support the Park Board’s strategies to cultivate a new respectful relationship with indigenous people that provides opportunities for First Nations to help shape the future of our parks.
• Enhance Stormwater Management: Identify innovative techniques to improve the long standing water quality issues present in Trout Lake and also respond to the City’s One Water initiative. 
• Protect Natural Spaces: Enhance the park’s biodiveristy and natural values, including Trout Lake.
• Provide Diverse Recreational Options: Continue to provide a balance of active and passive recreation spaces. 
• Improve Safety & Accessibility: Identify and implement park improvements that increase safety and improves accessibility for all residents
• Create a Coherent Park Design: Improve how park users travel through and access park facilities and natural areas.
• Manage Costs: Make changes with capital, operational and maintenance considerations in mind. Develop recommendations for capital improvements, design and character directions, operational improvements and funding strategies. 

• Park Board Reconciliation Strategies (2018) - The Park Board has adopted eleven Reconciliation Strategies as well as a Vision, Mission and Values document that seeks to decolonise the park board and identify opportunities to empower reconciliation with indigenous communities throughout all of the work Parks undertakes
• VanPlay (2019) – The Park Board’s master plan for equitably delivering “excellent parks and recreation opportunities in a connected, efficient manner which celebrates history of the land, place, and culture.” VanPlay provides a 100-year vision, 25-year outlook, and 10-year implementation plan for the improvements to the City’s parks and recreation facilities. 
• Van Splash (2019) - Establishes a 25-year vision for the future of aquatics that proposes a city-wide approach to planning future pools and other aquatic amenities and innovations. It specifically identifies investing in “swimming improvements at Trout Lake”
• Local Food System Action Plan (2021) - Identifies four goals and 38 actions to move towards a just, sustainable, and decolonized local food system.
• People Parks and Dog Strategy (2017) – The Park Board’s guiding policy for how to ensure safe and coordinated access to shared spaces between dogs and their owners and other parks users.
• Climate Emergency Action Plan (2020) - Vancouver City Council approved this initiative in 2020 to reduce our carbon pollution by 50% by 2030, in alignment with the findings of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to limit global warming to 1.5°C. . 
• One Water (2019) – This 2019 initiative looks at the full water cycle in all its forms across the city (drinking water, wastewater, rainwater, surface water, and groundwater) to make water-related decisions that benefit the community, economy, and the environment.