RICHMOND COUNTY - The municipality's drive to develop an Active Living Strategy bookended the May 8 Committee of the Whole meeting for Richmond Municipal Council. 

The meeting began with a half-hour update from Upland Consulting, the Dartmouth-based firm hired by the municipality to develop Richmond County's new Active Living Strategy and Recreation Plan. Later in the same meeting, during the public question period that typically finishes council's regular meetings and its Committee of the Whole meetings, a community advocate for Isle Madame's Pondville Beach Provincial Park insisted that upgrades to the site line up perfectly with the county's stated active living priorities. 

In their meeting-opening presentation, Upland Consulting consultants Karen MacTavish and Max Chauvin described their collaboration with the county as "a roadmap and framework" that would set the stage for the next decade's worth of municipal developments on active living and recreation for county residents. 

Having already submitted their report on the state of recreation in Richmond County and the results of an extensive community consultation this past February, the Upland delegation is now calling on Richmond County to "create a culture of active living" with its staff, volunteers and residents, establish social and infrastructure supports for "walking in the natural or human-made environment" and for additional opportunities for movement and active living, and to implement politics to support movement.  

At the end of the May 8 meeting, Lisa Boudreau - an Arichat business owner who has overseen the official "Save Pondville Beach Provincial Park" community campaign and Facebook group since it got under way in late April - called on the municipality to take a greater role in negotiations with Nova Scotia's Department of Natural Resources and Renewables.

Referencing the update from Upland Consulting and its focus on active living and recreation, Boudreau suggested that Pondville Beach represents a perfect opportunity for municipal council and staff to promote active living and recreational possibilities in the short and long term.