The town of Smithers is working toward making the community more age-friendly.
Smithers council recently approved an application to the Age-Friendly Communities Grant Program to undertake an age-friendly wayfinding project that may see new signage for trails and walking loops installed around town to make walking and hiking safer.
A report from town staff noted that an age-friendly community recognizes the needs, range of capacities and resources of older persons, and takes measures to proactively remove the physical and social barriers to inclusion.
A community built on the principle of age-friendliness benefits all demographic groups and not just seniors, it said.
In 2016, the town did an age-friendly assessment and action plan.
It showed that the senior population (65 years and older) in northern B.C., is proportionally growing more rapidly in comparison to the rest of the province and that this growth is expected to continue at an accelerated pace over the next 15 years.
The increasing number of older adults in northern B.C. is a result of younger people moving away and more adults choosing to remain in the north, retire here and age in place.
The report concluded that this increasing number of seniors will affect communities, including Smithers.
One of the priorities noted in that assessment was the clear lack of signage to promote trail usage and that impedes the safe use of trails.
The town would like to do an age-friendly wayfinding project for the town’s trail networks, which will add useful information such as route length, elevation change, trail surface and accessibility rating, etc. at the heads of every trail/walk loop.
All of council unanimously agreed to apply for funding for that project at their July 11 council meeting.
The maximum funding the town can receive for this project is $15,000 which town staff thinks will be sufficient to complete the proposed project.
If successful in getting the money, the town will issue a Request for Proposal, inviting a consulting service to assess the accessibility of all trails based on an inclusive stakeholder engagement process, and subsequently to create age-friendly maps and signage for all trails and walk loops.
Some of the funding will go toward the preparation and installation of actual signs.
READ MORE: Smithers looking to improve library
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