South New Castle News

In New Castle County of Delaware, the New Castle County Land Preservation Task Force is seeking input regarding several land preservation topics from people within its community. 

The newly formed task force was created in August 2019 with the purpose of developing a countywide land preservation strategy. An online survey about the land preservation was created for the residents of New Castle County. The survey is currently available to New Castle County residents until March 17.

Janet Kilpatrick, New Castle County councilwoman, has said that the purpose of the task force’s survey is to assist members with making critical decisions regarding the land such as prioritizing funding for the preservation efforts of open space, farmland and parkland.

“We have 10 park districts in New Castle County,” Kilpatrick said, according to the Middletown Transcript. “We know that three of those are underdeveloped as far as park goes.”

Kilpatrick also noted that there are active recreation statistics provided by the federal government that provides the ration of the number of residents in the area and the amount of openly available parkland to the county.

“There are many people who think we should only have open space – space that is not developed into ballparks and trails,” Kilpatrick said. “So we are trying to put together a ranking that says 'What would be the most important?’”

The survey itself is five pages long and contains seven questions regarding farmland, funding and open space. The final section is used to develop a demographic profile that also has a blank area for the survey taker to place their suggestions and thoughts for county land preservation.

In 2018, a Delaware Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan was released by the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control. That department’s Division of Parks and Recreation said that 96 percent of Delaware residents that took the survey mentioned that outdoor recreation activities are essential to their quality of life, according to Middletown Transcript.

The survey that was taken in 2018 also pointed out that 55 percent of residents partake in outdoor recreational activities to improve their physical health and promote a healthier lifestyle.

According to the plan, there are 143,480 acres of publicly available outdoor recreation and conservation land across the state of Delaware.