Accessible Outdoor Project Gets Approval From Council

Friday, 12 April 2019 06:43

The ROAM project received support from councillors, which will become an outdoor space for people with mobility issues to use for outdoor activities.

OXFORD COUNTY - Oxford County Council gave their support to one businessman's upcoming project.

Owner of the Southern Ontario Fisheries Enhancement Initiative and Southern Ontario Community Enhancement Initiative, Gavin Houston presented the Rural Oxford All-Inclusive Mobility Park project.

It is an outdoor space for the public, making it accessible for people with mobility issues to use for swimming, kayaking, canoeing and more.

Houston says he is looking for a buyer to purchase the main land.

"There's enough partners that have agreed to help put it together with some of the parcels of land. There's one outlier, there's one parcel of land that's sort of a main hub for the entire thing that it needs to be purchased, it needs to get secured and we're at that stage right now. There are some people that are interested in acquiring it for the park. To really make it beneficial, I'm trying to find somebody that would acquire the property directly from the current owner and then sell that back at a later date once the rest of the money for the project has been cobbled together."

Houston says the project allows people with mobility issues a chance to enjoy the outdoors.

"Most specifically, all of these amenities would be created in such a way that they would be all-inclusive, meaning that somebody with mobility issues would be able to get from their wheelchair into a kayak or onto a paddleboard, even specially designed paddle boards so you can just park your wheelchairs right on top and head out. There's not a lot of opportunity for the average person, nevermind those with mobility issues to really enjoy the outdoors in any significant way and to have ten kilometres of trails and all these other things, that's our vision is just to create this big, beautiful space for everybody."

ROAM is a comprehensive rehabilitation plan that would transform five gravel pits into the outdoor space, located on the north side of the Thames River just west of Puttnam Road.

The space would be approximately just over 300 acres and more than 10 kilometres of trails.

Houston says construction should start later this year.

"If things keep going the way they are, there should be fairly major movement in the next month to six weeks. And if that happens, with some of the existing partners already, it would be possible to start construction later this summer, if not in the fall."