The RM of Stanley is moving ahead with an exciting endeavour that will make way for a park and greenspace in the Village of Reinfeld.

Council for the RM recently approved the purchase of a 15-acre parcel of land on the north side of Pembina Avenue East, just west of the community of roughly 1,500 people.

Reeve Morris Olafson says this will be a great thing for what's going to happen in that area. "There's going to be future growth there, we know that," said Reeve Morris Olafson.

“Reinfeld is our largest urban community and has for many years now not had an appropriately sized recreational area for the size of community. We found a landowner willing to work with us to sell us a piece of property - and in a fast-growing community you only get one chance to set aside land for something like this – we decided that now is the time.”

“This is tremendous for the community! We are not going to be skipping a beat to work on getting some recreation space developed for the community. We are excited to work with the RM on this project and we’re ready to get going,” said Rec committee member Harm Enting.

Olafson says the plan is to prepare the land in spring, seed the ground with grass, plant trees, and create a parking lot.

"This is going to be a community area, and it's going to be community driven as to what they want in that space," added Olafson.

Discussions have been happening over the past number of years between the RM council, Reinfeld Recreation Committee (volunteer committee) and members of the Reinfeld Community Centre about the need for a park and greenspace.

Most villages have existing greenspaces which were previously or are currently school sites. Reinfeld has long outgrown their existing community space, and with no public school in the community. Acquiring this land and securing it for the community is big step forward.

While the RM is purchasing the land, there will be developer contributions coming back to the RM, as the community grows. This is an investment the RM is making – but it really becomes the community that will be taking hold of this and making it theirs for future generations to enjoy.

Rec committee member, Harm Enting said knowing that the community is going to expand, this park will be a key component of keeping Reinfeld a place people want to live.

Meanwhile, Deputy Reeve Ike Friesen said, "the purchase of this land fits well with our overall recreation strategy of working together as a region. This property will provide an opportunity to plug into the overall recreation and sports field availability within the region."

“Without the RM coming to table on this and making the land available, this wouldn’t happen, so we’re more than happy with how the RM has stepped up to the plate – now we will get going on turning this into something,” said recreation committee member, Kris Friesen.