New Castle County now has a group dedicated to developing and expanding their parks.
The New Castle County Parks Task Force met for the first time Wednesday with the goal of trying to expand access to parks by renovating and creating new open space areas
County Executive Matt Meyer says the task force will guide plans to develop existing county-owned land into parks in several underserved areas - like Edgemoor.
During the day, or the summer, after school, or during the school year you’ll see kids playing outside in the streets. They don’t have many places to go," Meyer said.
Meyer says the county has plans over the next year to turn an open field in Edgemoor into a park with basketball courts.
Another area it will target is underserved communities in Southern New Castle County.
Meyer says the park task force will look at where parks there should go and what types of amenities they’ll have.
"Should we make it what they call a passive park where it’s mostly for preservation purposes or do we want an active park that has ball fields and trails where people can stay active and healthy and find something to do?" Meyer said.
There's also a plan in the works to develop county-owned land in the Red Lion Area into a 78-acre park.
Meyer established the parks task force in July and says it will operate with a high degree of transparency, including its meetings available on Facebook Live so residents can participate, even if they are unable to show up in person.