Have your say on the future of Trout Lake Farmers Market
As we move into the final week of the season for Trout Lake Farmers Market, we are asking our friends and supporters in the community to add their voice to the discussion happening now around the future of this market.
The Vancouver Park Board is currently seeking input from the community to refine and update the draft master plan for John Hendry/Trout Lake Park, which includes planning for the future location and infrastructure of the market.
As Vancouver’s longest running farmers market – 25 years this season! – Trout Lake has experienced its share of flux and disruption, moving several times throughout the years to various locations in the neighbourhood in a bid to find a permanent home. We want to ensure that this thriving, vital community space continues to serve the people of Vancouver well into the future by securing a permanent and well-resourced place in the park.
For this reason we’re asking our supporters to complete the online Park Board survey found on this page before it closes on October 28, 2019. We are calling on the Park Board to consider the following requests in the master plan:
In general
- more focus on local food access and food-based programming, including farmers market, community gardens, and spaces where the community can access and share food.
- the addition of a multi-use pavilion with power hook ups, running water, and onsite storage that can house the farmers market and a variety of outdoor community events and programming.
Farmer market specific
- Three criteria most important to the market: maintaining the same amount (or more space), providing drinking water and power hook ups at the site, being close to public washrooms
- Location: we are advocating for the third option on the list – North of Trout Lake Community Centre (moving to a new “event” site adjacent to Trout Lake Community Centre). The parking lot directly west of this space was the location of the market for many years until work began to update the community centre. We have determined that this new proposed event site (highlighted area #3 on map at left) would be a return to a more ideal spot, further away from residential areas of the park and closer to the community centre, parking, and other park amenities.
We thank all of our supporters for taking the time to complete this survey – your voice is crucial in determining the future of the Trout Lake Farmers Market! An additional opportunity to voice your support in person will take place at the master plan Deep Dive Session #3 for Farmers Market and Community Garden, taking place on November 28, 2019 from 7-9pm at Trout Lake Community Centre. Pre-registration for this session is required – more details on the master plan page at this link.
Have a question or feedback for Vancouver Farmers Markets in regards to the Trout Lake Farmers Market planning process? Email Randy Elliott – VFM Operations Manager at randy@eatlocal.org, or call the VFM office at 604-879-3276.
