THE Planning Institute of British Columbia (PIBC) has awarded Surrey’s Nicomekl Riverfront Management Park Plan with the 2020 Gold Award for Excellence in Planning Practice for a City and Urban Area. The PIBC awards are presented annually in recognition of the professional planning work and accomplishments of members across British Columbia and Yukon.

“The City of Surrey is committed to creating a healthy, green, and inclusive community for our residents and we are honoured to receive this award from the Planning institute of British Columbia,” said Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum. “Improving the quality of life for our residents through visionary parks, recreation and culture planning is a continual work in progress and we are always working on how we can better improve on this front.”

The Nicomekl Riverfront Park Management Plan is a bold, adaptive management plan for a unique collage of riverfront parkland in Surrey. Combining numerous disciplines and strategies, it sets the vision and future for a resilient, diverse and collaborative gem in the overall City park network.

The plan balances biodiversity, ecological protection and enhancement with public access to, along and on the river while integrating public art, heritage, recreation, education and Indigenous stories throughout. The plan is a long-range vision for the riverfront and designed to be a living document throughout all phases of park planning, design, construction and management.

The Nicomekl Riverfront Park is one of the 13 Disaster, Adaptation & Mitigation (DMAF) projects to reduce Surrey’s vulnerability to coastal flooding and increase community resilience, safety and health, partially funded by the Government of Canada.

Detailed design of the riverfront park is commencing with construction anticipated to begin in 2023.

For more information on the Nicomekl Riverfront Park Management Plan, visit surrey.ca.