October 2023 newsletter

Hello Ward 1! 

Welcome, October! The autumn season has flown by, and I know it is only a matter of time until winter joins us.

Thank you to everyone who hosted or attended events in our community this month. A highlight for me was attending a very powerful feather making ceremony in Bowness for Truth & Reconciliation Day. My team also attended the opening of Haskayne Legacy Park, and the Tuscany Harvest Festival. It was a very busy and full month of fall family fun in our communities.

This month’s newsletter will be a big one, full of important updates. Please take the time to read my updates below on community safety, upcoming Service Plans & Budget deliberations, and as always, ways for you to engaged and be involved. Reach out to my office if you have any questions or concerns, we will be happy to hear from you!

—Sonya Sharp

Last year, Council approved a budget for The City of Calgary to provide services to Calgarians as presented in the 2023-2026 Service Plans and Budgets. To ensure that the budget continues to meet the needs of Calgarians, Council makes adjustments to the service plans and budgets each November.

The budget that Council already approved for the coming year anticipates an increase in property taxes for Calgarians. As part of this year’s adjustments, Council is considering additional investments in a number of programs, like Transit safety and the housing strategy.

It will simply not be possible to fund all of these investments while keeping taxes reasonable. Because of this, it is so important that we hear from Ward 1 residents about what they want to see prioritized.

Councillor Sharp and the Ward 1 Office will be hosting an open house on Wednesday October 25th from 5:30 – 7:30 PM at the Varsity Community Association to hear your feedback. This is a drop-in style event and all are welcome to discuss this upcoming budget adjustments with the councillor.

Visit the Ward 1 website to learn more about the proposed investments, to submit your feedback, and to learn more about the open house event.

This month, the Community Development Committee unanimously approved the Public Transit Safety Strategy. Councillor Sharp hears ongoing concerns about Transit safety from Ward 1 residents, and the approved strategy will aim to improve rider confidence and security.

Specific measures in the strategy include: increased visibility of response teams, more transit ambassadors, enhanced cleaning, adding safety hubs and the regional deployment of Transit peace officers, improved infrastructure design, and new programming.

The strategy will be given final consideration by all of Council later this month. 

Earlier this month, Council unanimously approved changes to the Change of Use process which include removing red tape by reducing businesses’ time to open, streamlining food and liquor service licencing, expanding opportunities for the Commercial Office District, and eliminating associated fees.

This past month, we celebrated a very exciting addition to Ward 1 – the Haskayne Legacy Park!

This brand new park is located along the banks of the Bearspaw Reservoir in the northwest of Calgary. Haskayne Legacy Park is a beautiful place of natural preservation. The park spans 126- hectares of land and is the perfect place for nature enthusiasts, families, and those who love to explore! 

To visit the park:

• Drive west on Crowchild Trail N.W. (Highway 1A) past Tuscany and Rocky Ridge
• Continue towards Rocky View County/Cochrane
• Turn south onto Woodland Road (Range Road 31). Woodland Road is your first left after you pass through the Bearspaw Road lights on Highway 1A.
• Follow Woodland Road until you get to the end of the paved road and then travel along the gravel road where you will reach the parking lots.

The Ward 1 Office’s number 1 priority is community safety. If you have been subscribed to these newsletters for some time, you will know that!

Our schools and our communities play a supportive role in building healthy travel attitudes in young people. Travel experiences in the early elementary years help prepare our kids to become confident, independent travelers themselves. The Mobility Safety Education Toolkit was created to provide parents, educators and other community members resources they can use when talking to children about traffic safety. These resources are so valuable and encourage conversations in your family about how to stay safe while moving on city streets.

Our kids need help learning and practicing how to walk or wheel safely, and this is one step in making our communities safer. Learn more by visiting calgary.ca/StreetSafeKids.