Engineering Services - Park Development Division

The Park Development Division is responsible for the planning, design, and construction of all parks, trails and open space areas throughout the Municipality. Clarington currently has over 106 hectares (262 acres) of developed parkland as well as an expanding trail network in the Bowmanville Creek Valley, the Soper Creek Valley and along the waterfront.

Open space areas such as the Sydney B. Rutherford Woods Walk, the Bowmanville Creek Valley and the Samuel Wilmot Nature Area, provide excellent passive recreational opportunities.

The Municipal parks system is comprised of district parks, community parks, neighbourhood parks, and hamlet parks.

District parks are intended to serve the entire Municipality. They provide a variety of activities and specialized facilities. In Clarington our upcoming district park developments will focus on the waterfronts of Newcastle, Bowmanville and Bond Head.

Community parks are intended to serve the needs of a series of neighbourhoods, providing indoor and outdoor recreation facilities. Community parks will usually contain several high quality lighted sports fields.

Neighbourhood parks are intended to serve the needs of surrounding residents. They are typically constructed in conjunction with new residential subdivisions to provide playgrounds, seating areas, walkways, and usually one non-lighted sports field.

Hamlet parks provide active and passive recreational facilities for hamlets and the surrounding rural community.

Another responsibility of the Park Development Division is managing street tree planting in new and existing subdivisions. In new residential areas the subdivision developer is responsible for planting new street trees under the direction of the Municipality. In existing established subdivisions an annual tree replacement program is undertaken by the Municipality to replace dead trees or add trees where required.