A new policy is changing the way ice and field time is handed out in Woodstock.
WOODSTOCK - The first come, first serve approach when it comes to booking time at recreational spaces within Woodstock is getting revamped.
Over the past year Woodstock Council has been faced with this issue. The major drawback of the past policy being it didn't allow for new sports or growing teams to practice, but this is set to change. City Councillor Shawn Shapton explains the new procedure put into place to better allocate recreational space: "Council approved the Recreational Space Allocation Policy, which basically means that whether it's ice, or a sports field, or aquatics it will be categorized and selected very specific to age range. There will be other requirements so people are fit into the right time slot."
Sporting teams seeking to reserve practice time on any field will now have to go through a series of steps to determine eligibility. Councillor Shapton goes into further detail about how the new policy will operate. "Previously it was based off past history. If group A always had 6 o'clock at night but they are an adult league and we've got 10 year old hockey players that are being bumped to 8 or 9 o'clock at night we are simply going to reallocate that time based on their age." The public voiced no concerns regarding the new policy, leading to a quick approval.
"Every one who does, for example, rent the ice - they have been notified and no one has come forward that this will be an issue. So that is one of the main reasons we approved it," says Councillor Shapton. He says as new groups form this will help set a framework as to how to book time and give everyone equal time with the space. Councillors are hoping this is successful as it is the first time this kind of policy has been implemented.
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