More than 200 Peterborough residents responded to a recent social media post asking, “What is missing from Peterborough?”
Town Planner Danica Miller said the Planning Department is “thrilled” with the engagement from residents.
“We heard some great ideas in that post,” she said. “Some suggestions were things that might be a little challenging, like an indoor swimming pool, or an ice rink, but we had some really great ideas as well, and we’re just so thrilled to see so many of our community members engaging.”
Other suggestions included an urgent care center, a dog park, and affordable housing.
The social media post is just one way Peterborough’s Master Plan Committee is engaging residents in the development of the town’s next Master Plan. The committee kicked off two weeks ago with a downtown event, the Jane Jacobs “Walk and Roll,” in which community members walked through the downtown and took part in discussions and guided visioning about their ideas, questions and concerns for the future of Peterborough.
The Master Plan Committee includes Carl Staley, Chair; Bryan Field, Vice Chair; Hanya Gartner, Lisa Stone, Gary Gorski, Mike Dias and Amy Aubertin.
Sarah Steinberg Heller, Dori Drachman and Emily Manns serve as alternates.
The committee has planned a full schedule of outreach events over the next few months, including hosting information tables at major town events, such as contra dances and public concerts, as well as at the Transfer Station, Adams Playground, and in Depot Square.
At the Tuesday night meeting of the committee, members also discussed the possibility of handing out information at Cunningham Pond and Adams Pool.
“Catching on the way out might be better,” said committee chair Carl Staley.
One of the committee’s more innovative projects is “Peterborough Mad Libs,” created by Trisha Cheever of the Building and Planning Department. The “Mad Libs” ask Peterborough residents to fill in the blanks with questions like, “When I walk downtown in Peterborough, I would like to see…”
“We have had a great response with these,” Miller said. ‘”We have received 406 of them back so far.”
The Master Plan committee is also reaching out with comment boards at town events, which Miller says have been popular, and has set up a hotline. The committee has also scheduled two Small Business Roundtables on Tuesday, May 26, 5 to 6 p.m., and on Thursday, May 28, from 9 to 10 a.m. Both events will take place at the Select Board meeting room at the Peterborough Town House. To register, go to peterboroughnh.gov/government/boards_and_committees/master_plan_steering_committee/2026_update.php.
