Draft MidCoast Walking Cycling and Trail based Activity Strategy
MIDCOAST WALKING, CYCLING AND
Acknowledgement of Country
We acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which we work and live, the Gathang-speaking people and pay our respects to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who now reside in the MidCoast Council area. We extend our respect to Elders past and present, and to all future cultural-knowledge holders.
Glossary of Terms
Walking: move at a regular pace by lifting and setting down each foot in turn, never having both feet off the ground at once.
Cycling: the act of riding or travelling by bicycle.
Active Transport: is a form of physical activity for the primary purpose of moving from one point to another
Recreation: A term used to describe any physical activity that is undertaken by people for pleasure, includes: structured sport, unstructured sport, active recreation: such as trail running, and rogaining, fitness activities: such as Parkrun and Bootcamp, aquatics, and play. It is different from leisure as it involves physical activity.
Leisure: Defined by its “quality of experience”, such as sightseeing and birdwatching Denoted by little or no physical activity as part of the actual activity.
Natural Space: Natural environments, such as bush, forest and coastal areas. Does not include public open space that has been created by humans, such as manmade parks and gardens.
Built space: Manmade environments, such as buildings, roads, footpaths and shopping centres.
Ausplay: Physical activity participation data produced by the Australian Sports Commission (ASC).
PAMP: Pedestrian Access and Mobility Plan. A PAMP deals with all aspects of walking, access and mobility from a pedestrian perspective.
Community Hub: A community facility located in a large park, that provides for a group of activities and where the community can spend significant time. Activities can include sport, play, recreation, picnicking and passive leisure activities.
Bushwalking: Hiking or backpacking in natural settings. Can be for short periods, over short distances, or can be multi-day over long distances. Can involve overnight camping.
Trail and/or Track: a rough path or road, typically beaten by use rather than constructed.
Trail-based activities: Generic term that refers to all activities that are conducted on trails, including bushwalking, trail running, rogaining, and horse related events such as trail riding
Ecotourism: Environmentally responsible visiting of relatively unspoilt natural areas, in order to enjoy and appreciate nature (and any accompanying cultural features both past and present), that promotes conservation, has low negative visitor impact, and provides for beneficially active socio-economic involvement of local populations.
Executive Summary
People like to and need to move. Our most basic means of movement is walking. We learn to walk as children, and we continue to walk for our whole lives. Walking is a fundamental aspect of life. This strategy sets out our philosophy on walking and on the wheeled version of walking, cycling.
The MidCoast Walking, Cycling and Trail-based Activity Strategy 2025 – 2035 is a critical supporting document to the MidCoast Open Space and Recreation Strategy 2023 – 2035 (OSRS). The OSRS sets out the vision, guiding principles and aspirations for our public open space, how we use it and how we care for it. This Walking, Cycling and Trail-based Activity Strategy is an aspirational and asset focused planning document which considers multiple activities undertaken within our recreation portfolio, walking, cycling, and trail-based activities.
One of the eight guiding principles we have adopted in the OSRS is use knowledge and evidencebased management.
Therefore, the Walking, Cycling and Trail-based Activity Strategy has been developed on a foundation of evidence, and every recommendation contained within the Action Plan is then based on that evidence. This approach will ensure that in the future every pathway and trail that we have in our parks and reserves will be where it needs to be and provide value based on evidence.
This Strategy lays out our vision for walking and cycling, its importance in our overall goal of encouraging our community to be healthy and active and recognises that in a time of uncertainty in relation to climate and our environment and its impact on our park’s estate, that choosing a healthy and sustainable form of transport should be encouraged.
The main objective of this Strategy is to provide a framework for Council to increase participation in walking and cycling, prioritise its delivery and to improve the supporting infrastructure and resourcing for these activities in the region over the duration of this Strategy. It covers all forms of walking and cycling and includes the urbanised areas, our natural spaces and our rural areas. The Strategy considers recreation activities such as walking, bushwalking, mountain biking and recreational road cycling
The two Action Plans contained within this strategy have been informed by walking and cycling actions identified in the OSRS gained from input from individual communities around our region, and by evidenced based analysis of our community’s need.
The Walking, Cycling and Trail-based Activity Strategy provides both strategic and integrated solutions to enable decision making for the provision of walking and cycling experiences. It provides a framework by which decisions about what work is undertaken to ensure positive user experiences across the region are made. The strategy will provide a strategic framework for all of us and will inform budgetary decisions, assist with grant applications and other potential funding sources.
The Strategy has been broken into two parts, the first is the walking and cycling section, and the second being a separate section that deals with bushwalking and trail-based activities specifically.
Lastly, this strategy recognises that the activities of walking and cycling can be undertaken both for recreation, and as a form of transport. This theme of recreation and transport is carried throughout this strategy and is critical to our thinking.
Introduction
Walking and cycling are great activities and great ways to get around.
During 2022 and the first half of 2023 we developed the OSRS. This is the foundational strategy that guides us on how we manage the extensive public open spaces that we have. The Strategy also provides overarching guidance on the numerous uses of our public open space, including recreation activities, such as sport, play and skate.
Through the development of the OSRS we engaged with the community to confirm our analysis of our current open space and we identified six key insights. From these, a vision, guiding principles and actions list have been developed. The vision reflects the value that our community places on our open space. The eight guiding principles have been developed to guide us in our management and delivery of open space in the MidCoast region. The actions reflect our understanding of the short-, medium- and long-term needs and aspirations of our community.
This Walking, Cycling and Trail-based Activity Strategy is a direct recommendation from the OSRS The vision, guiding principles and intent of the open space and recreation strategy form the basis of this strategy.
Specific community engagement for this Strategy was conducted in 2024. A major theme of this extensive engagement was that the community wanted more and better walking and cycling paths and infrastructure.
Our Walking and Cycling Vision
“Our community is encouraged to be active through walking and cycling. We are a community that sees walking and cycling as a fun thing to do, and where choosing active transport is supported.”
Our Walking and Cycling Goal
“Getting our community moving through safe and accessible walking and cycling infrastructure.”
A healthy and active community
The purpose of all our parks planning documents, including this Walking, Cycling and Trail-based Activity Strategy is to encourage our community to lead healthy and active lives. When we live active lives, we all benefit. We have less health issues, our mental health is improved, and our engagement with each other is enhanced.
When we consider all the parks and recreation planning documents, outlined in the planning framework below, there are two primary outcomes, the first is to sustainably manage our natural public open spaces, and the other is to support our community to live healthy and active lives. The MidCoast Open Space and Recreation Strategy and its supporting strategies, such as this one, seeks to support our community in being active.
We
want to get people out of cars, on to our pathways and trails, being physically active, and getting to where they want to go, in a safe and enjoyable way.
The Strategy and the PAMP
Throughout this Strategy we refer to the Pedestrian Access and Mobility Plan (PAMP). We provide more detail on the PAMP later in the planning section, but its important to note how these two documents inter-relate.
The MidCoast PAMP and Bike Plan 2021, and the MidCoast Walking, Cycling and Trail-based Activity Strategy 2025 – 2035 have been aligned to ensure that each complements the other. The main difference between the two is the primary focus of the MidCoast Walking, Cycling and Trailbased Activity Strategy is on providing walking and cycling opportunities in our parks and reserves, and on walking and cycling as recreation pursuits, whereas the PAMP deals with pedestrians getting around our urban environment.
Background
Home to 96,800 people (2021), the MidCoast region offers our diverse community a wide range of lifestyle opportunities. Located on the mid north coast of NSW, the geographical area covers more than 10,000 km2 and extends from the coastline, west to the escarpment of the Great Dividing Range. The Biripi and Worimi people are the traditional owners of the land. The region is well known for its natural beauty and is a key holiday destination that attracts a large number of tourists and visitors throughout the seasons. The area spans from sparkling beaches on the coast to mountains in the hinterland, with expansive national parks and green spaces in between. It includes the Manning River valley, the Wallis, Smiths and Myall Lakes systems, the northern foreshore of Port Stephens, the agricultural hinterland and rugged, forested ranges of the Woko and Tapin Tops National Parks, and the World Heritage-listed Barrington Tops National Park. These natural features contribute to our lifestyles, livelihoods and wellbeing, and protecting and celebrating them is an important focus for our future.
We manage 4151ha of public open space, made up of 826 parks and reserves. Many of these parks and reserves have formal pathways or informal trails within them. Uniquely to this strategy, compared to others in the recreation planning framework, is that the focus is not restricted to our parks and reserves, but also extends to paths and trails in our built enviornment, where they create linkages to our parks, creating opportunities for walking and cycling.
To this end, Council has embarked on this strategy to set out our philosophy on walking and cycling, to encourage our people in undertaking these activities and to provide infrastructure to support them.
Methodology
In developing this strategy, the following actions were undertaken:
1 Defining and understanding the importance of walking and cycling to our community
2 Determining current trends.
3 Making recommendations for future design, management and provision of walking and cycling infrastructure
4 Consulting with the community with regards to their thoughts on the Strategy
This Strategy recognises the need to consider opportunities to better cater for the whole community, no matter their ability, including parents/carers with prams, young children on scooters, as well as cyclists and walkers.
Why do we need a Strategy?
Why walking and cycling? Why did we choose to focus a strategy on the two activities of walking and cycling. The reason that a Walking and Cycling Strategy is a key component of our planning framework is that walking and cycling are the “base” physical activities that people undertake. They are activities that almost all of us can do, in one form or another. We know that if we can encourage people to walk and/or cycle more then we have achieved our aim of creating a healthy and active community.
Ausplay data, produced by the Australian Sports Commission shows that walking, walking with dogs, bushwalking, cycling, and running make up five of the top six physical activities that we do.
We have also focussed on walking and cycling because these two activities can be undertaken almost anywhere, in the case of walking it is everywhere. Therefore, the provision of pathways, multi-use pathways, trails, on-road bike lanes and any other infrastructure that supports these two activities will have a significant positive impact on all our community.
Lastly, walking and cycling have two specific functions. Firstly, people undertake these two activities for the recreational value that we get from them, walking and cycling are fun and make us fit and healthy. The second function is in the form of active transport (see definition in the Glossary above and expansion below). Walking and cycling are the simplest forms of getting from one place to another. We want to encourage our community to choose to get to their destination in the most beneficial and most sustainable way that they can.
This is why we have developed the Walking, Cycling and Trail-based Activity Strategy.
What activities does the Strategy cover?
The activities of walking and cycling can be done in many ways and in many different forms. The following activities are considered in this Strategy.
• Individual walking for exercise
• Group walking for exercise
• Group fitness activities, such as Parkrun
• Individual road running
• Mass running events, such as Run Fest Forster Tuncurry
• Bushwalking
• Trail running
• Rogaining
• Orienteering
• Walking as a form of transportation
• Unstructured recreational cycling
• Club based recreational cycling
• Mass cycling events
• Cycling as a form of transportation
What is not covered
• Mountain biking infrastructure, such as mountain bike parks
• Off-road cycling facilities such as criterium tracks, ramp parks and mountain bike trails that are not also bushwalking trails (actions for these facilities are contained within the OSRS).
Priorities for this Strategy
The strategy identifies an expanded network for walking and cycling. It is proposed that provision of the footpath and cycle path network will initially focus on:
For Walking
• Expand circuit walks in our many towns and villages urban areas to encourage exercise
• Add accessible trails to the existing network to enhance opportunities and to cater for the needs of people of all abilities to access facilities
• Improve links to bushwalking trail entrances
• Improve links to key destinations
• Reinforce and add to existing pathway network where they enhance experiences
For Cycling
• Fill missing gaps in trails and cycleways
• Where possible provide off-road cycling pathways
• Reinforce and add to existing cycling networks where they enhance experiences
By identifying strategic walking and cycling networks and other key interventions and addressing key barriers that deter people from walking and cycling, we hope to transition to an environment and culture that supports the people of MidCoast to enjoy all the benefits of an active lifestyle.
The Walking, Cycling and Trail-based Activity Strategy reviews existing bike paths and bike amenities while proposing additional cycle facilities to improve and augment the cycle network in the area. The Walking, Cycling and Trail-based Activity Strategy reflects newly completed infrastructure and new proposed routes that have not already been captured in the MidCoast PAMP and Bike Plan 2021. The principal needs of cyclists and the type of routes required are discussed with a summary of key points to be considered in the planning and design of future walking and cycling facilities. It is important to note that the Walking, Cycling and Trail-based Activity Strategy provides guidance in planning. The actual locations of cycleways and associated cycle facilities are subject to change and will be determined as part of detailed design and construction processes.
We are seeking to address key barriers that deter people from walking and cycling.
Several documents have provided guidance in the development of this Strategy, including the Hornsby City Council Walking and Cycling Strategy. 1 Further references are included later in the document.
This Walking, Cycling and Trail-based Activity Strategy is made up of two components, walking and cycling and trail-based activities such as bushwalking. These two strategies were identified as high priorities in the OSRS, as separate planning documents. Combining them together allows us to align the two different landscapes in which the same activities take place.
The framework below was identified in the MidCoast Open Space and Recreation Strategy 2023 – 2035 (OSRS) and has been adjusted to reflect further development of each strategy.
Provide a network of safe walking and cycling paths and trails across the region that links the major population centres.
Key Principles
The following key principles will direct the provision of walking and cycling infrastructure in the MidCoast region
1. Parks – Focuces on paths and trails in our parks, or trails that allow people to visit our parks.
2. Facilities - Provision of infrastructure that encourages walking and cycling.
3. Connection – Provide a network of safe walking and cycling paths and trails across the region for recreation experiences, that provide connections between population centres and facilitates opportunities within individual settlements for recreation.
4. Inspiration – Attract new people to walking and cycling, encourage more frequent and longer distances of travel and promote the benefits of walking and cycling to the community.
5. Policy and Planning – Improved policy and planning that ensures that walking and cycling opportunities are considered within our parks planning.
6. Collaboration – Better coordination and collaboration with stakeholders.
7. Recreation Focus – Walking and cycling infrastructure that encourages physical activity.
8. Knowledge and evidence: An evidenced based approach to decision making.
9. Culture: Creating and enhancing a walking and cycling culture.
Strategy Objectives
This Strategy has the following objectives
1. Encourages walking and cycling as a physical activity of choice for our community.
2. Promotes active transport as a transport option.
3. Sets a strategic framework to guide the preparation of detailed design solutions.
4. Informs the preparation of:
• Design solutions for residential housing precincts
• Development contribution plans/voluntary planning agreements
• Street tree planting programs
• Grant applications/budget decisions
• Prioritised 10-year implementation plan
• Evaluation and monitoring processes
What we heard
In 2022 we conducted extensive community engagement as part of developing the OSRS. Many of the ideas that people put forward were included in the OSRS.
In 2024 we then conducted a further phase of engagement to confirm those actions that were identified in the OSRS, that the community had put forward, and to gain insights into other projects that the community wanted us to consider.
We received 513 contributions. There was a diverse range of suggestions, focused on both our parks and reserves and our built environment. Where a suggestion relates purely to a footpath in our urban areas we have highlighted it to assist in the review of our PAMP. Where the suggestion is related to a path or trail in our parks, or is a long-distance trail linking two of our centres, such as a suggestion to provide a trail linking Tuncurry and Black Head, these have been included in this Strategy.
What you told us.
New paths and extensions: Build new walking and cycling paths as well as extend our existing pathways and trails
Natural environment: Design paths that take advantage of the regions natural beauty including coastal walks, lakefront paths and trails through parks. Integrating paths in a way that minimizes environmental impact is also important.
Visitor attractions: Development of new paths and trails will attract more visitors to the region and boost the local economy. Incorporate history signage along key walkways. Look at other Council areas and countries who have fantastic walking, cycling paths and trails for reference.
You told us that the MidCoast area is an area of natural beauty, that you love it, and that you would like to be able to visit our beautiful places on foot or on a bike.
PART 1
PLANNING FOR WALKING AND CYCLING
Part 1 - Planning for Walking and Cycling
The OSRS provides a Parks and Recreation Planning Framework, which outlines the documents that support the OSRS. Two of these strategies are the Walking and Cycling Strategy and the Bushwalking Strategy. It was anticipated that these two documents would be produced separately, however, after extensive analysis it was felt that combining the two together would show our commitment to providing walking experiences, as well as showing the value that we place on our natural spaces and being able to walk in them. In short, the two different subjects are so closely aligned that they should be included in one document.
We want walking and bike riding to be the preferred physical activity for our community, as well to make short trips and a viable, safe and efficient option for longer trips.
Federal and NSW Government Planning
Both the Federal Government 2 and the NSW Government have developed several strategies that support us in our planning for walking and cycling. Included in these government strategies is the NSW Active Transport Strategy 3 which is a guiding resource for this strategy. The NSW Government Strategy states:
“Walking and bike riding is the most sustainable form of transport, contributing to great places, cleaner local environments, healthier lifestyles, and providing economic benefits to local neighbourhoods.
By encouraging more people to choose walking or bike riding for everyday journeys, we will improve neighbourhoods and the environment, reduce car use and traffic congestion, support busy local economies, and improve the general health of our communities.”
Strategy Alignment
Because walking and cycling takes place in both our parks and reserves, and our built space, there are several Council strategies and policies that deal with the activity indirectly. These can include:
In 2021 we developed the MidCoast PAMP and Bike Plan 2021. A PAMP is a Pedestrian Access and Mobility Plan and we have combined the PAMP with a bike plan. The Plan deals with all aspects of walking and cycling from a transport perspective.
A PAMP is a comprehensive strategic and action plan that sets out policies and a framework for planning and developing pedestrian facilities to cater for all pedestrian requirements including recreation and commuter routes and includes provision for cyclists as well. The facilities should provide access to persons of all age groups and are suitable for wheelchairs.
A PAMP’s focus is on co-ordinating investment and strategies to provide the community with safe, convenient, and connected walking access and routes which have been identified through community engagement and collaboration with state and local authorities, developers and other key stakeholders. The PAMP identifies objectives and targets such as health benefits, safety, connectivity, tourism and sustainable economic growth.
There are several connections between walking and cycling requirements given that cyclists and pedestrians often share the same facilities e.g. shared cycle and walking paths and pedestrian and cycle crossings.
The Plan is a combination of measures to improve facilities for walking and cycling across the MidCoast Council region.
Included in the PAMP is a Bike Plan. A Bike Plan is like a PAMP except that the main focus is on setting policies and frameworks for planning and provision of cycling facilities. The plan will generally highlight past and current key projects and future aspirations including future funding targets along with objectives, priorities, and program to achieve these. Bike Plans look at connectivity and connecting the cycle network, encouragement of active transport, options and projects and the barriers to making cycling a viable alternative to motorised transport.
Our planning documents align to ensure excellent outcomes for our community.
What is Active Transport?
Also known as active travel, active transport relates to physical activity undertaken as a means of transport. Active transport incorporates cycling, walking and other physically active ways of travelling. It does include e-bikes but does not include motorised electric scooters and other such vehicles that do not require human effort to power them.
Active transport can be carried out singly, or as part of a combination of walking, cycling and other physical modes of travel to work, school, parks, cafes, shops, a friend's house or other destinations. Using public transport such as catching a bus or train also involves active travel when walking or cycling to and from stops, stations, home, and destinations. Choosing to walk or cycle for transport offers many important benefits for health, community, and the environment
Recreation and Active Transport
In simple terms there is no discernible difference between being active for recreation through walking and/or cycling and choosing to do these activities for transport. Both use the same means of movement, and both make use of the same infrastructure, to a greater or lesser extent.
The difference between them is the desired outcome of the participant. If recreation, and/or pleasure is the outcome, then the activity is often undertaken in places that enhance the activity, in our case such as coastal foreshore parks, beaches, and mountain trails. These landforms then add to the value of the activity for the person. This is often referred to as the “quality of the experience” or “experience value”
A participant who is undertaking the activities of walking and cycling for active transport does not consider the environment through which they are travelling, at least not as a primary determinant The environment may add pleasure to the journey but is not the primary purpose A person undertaking walking and cycling for active transport is looking for the shortest way from their location to their destination. This often includes roadside pathways and built space environments, and often involves the combination of activities. It can also result in what is known as “rabbit running”, where the walker or cyclist will deliberatively find the shortest distance to their destination, cutting through parks, using laneways, and taking shortcuts.
The difference in outcome may also express itself in the infrastructure involved. In the case of recreation, the condition of the pathway, the time of day, and available light are not as important as they are to someone who is riding to work at 5.00am in the morning.
Our Walking, Cycling and Trail-based Activity Strategy aims to encourage residents to adopt healthier lifestyles and enjoy the natural environment.
Running on paths and trails
Ausplay data indicates that the fourth most popular physical activity undertaken by Australians is running, with walking as the most popular. Running has been included in this Strategy as an activity, mainly because running is undertaken on the same paths and trails that walking is undertaken. Therefore, a path and trail network that is provided for walking, also encourages, and enhances running opportunities for our community.
Nowhere is this more obvious than with Parkrun. We now have four Parkruns in our region, and all of them use off-road paths and trails that are also used by the community for walking. One example is Forster Parkrun, which uses part of the Bicentennial Trail along the foreshore in Forster, another is Gloucester Parkrun, which uses the trail alongside the Gloucester River inside Gloucester District Park. Taree Parkrun uses the paths along the Manning River and the Parkrun in Harrington uses pathways in Harrington Waters Foreshore Reserve. All of our Parkruns use our parks and reserves.
Mass participation running events, such as the Forster Running Festival make use of the paths and trails in our parks and reserves for their run courses.
Likewise our bush trails are popular with trail runners, and this is covered in the Bushwalking section.
Where we provide for walking, we are also providing for running.
Walking and cycling in our parks
This strategy deals with walking and cycling in our parks, and therefore the infrastructure that facilitates those activities. If a pathway outside our parks helps people get to them, then they are considered, as long as the pathway is not covered by the PAMP.
People like to walk in beautiful places. Most often these places are our parks. Our most attractive paths and trails are in our coastal areas, or next to our mountain rivers.
These parks are often the “crown jewels”, having been set aside for community benefit many decades ago, in some cases in the late 1800’s. Because of the value of these parks and reserves for all our community we need to have a holistic approach to their management.
Overall, there are 826 Council-managed open spaces in the MidCoast region. For a full list of facilities and their type refer to Appendix 3 of the MidCoast Open Space and Recreation Strategy 2023-2035
Our public open space is made up of the following:
Of the park categories and areas detailed above the following crown land reserves are included:
While we value what the community wants to do in our parks and reserves, we also have a responsibility to manage them sustainably. Many of the actions contained within the Action Plan of this Strategy are within our parks and reserves, and whilst we seek to provide them, we also seek to provide them in a way that has the least impact on those places. We align our infrastructure provision with the Impact Assessment Model that is detailed in the OSRS.
We need to protect our parks and reserves, whilst providing infrastructure that allows our community to undertake activities that they want.
Walking and cycling in our built space
Even though people mostly choose to walk and cycle in our parks and reserves they also do these activities in their local neighbourhoods. Ausplay data regularly shows that walking is the most popular physical activity that Australians undertake, with 48% of people doing it on a weekly basis. A large percentage of people that walk also walk with their dogs. It is not unusual to see someone walking their dog around their neighbourhood in the morning or late in the afternoon.
Inclusive Access
Ensuring that all members of our community, regardless of ability, have access to our paths, trails and our parks is important to us. Many of the planning considerations in this Strategy include the integration of facilities for all. However, trails, by their nature, are often located in challenging environments. We cant always guarantee that we can provide for all in natural environments, but where it is possible we will seek to provide for all abilities.
We have produced the MidCoast Disability Inclusion Action Plan 4 which was developed through an extensive community engagement process. Feedback from the community indicated that we have much to do with our path network to make it accessible for all.
The vision of this strategy is to enhance the opportunities for our community of getting into and around our beautiful parks and reserves.
We will seek to make our path network accessible to all where possible.
Enhancing our existing path and trail network and creating opportunities for our community to be healthy and active is one of our important considerations in developing this Strategy.
This section looks at the existing pathway and trail network throughout our region, and how it is used by our communities for recreation and active transport.
To ensure that walking and cycling in our region is the most efficient and enjoyable that we can make it we have taken a network approach to planning it. Filling in those “missing links” is a high priority to us and is reflected in the Action Plan. We don’t want people out enjoying our natural environments on our paths and trails and coming to an end and then not knowing where to go. To alleviate this, we have considered the following factors:
• Key characteristics of typical walking and bike riding user groups, including the vulnerable, families, commuters and recreation and sports users.
• Distances people are typically willing to walk to reach certain types of destinations. For example, up to 400m to access local facilities and up to 1000m to access district or regional facilities and the time it takes people to cycle a typical distance.
• Improving access to key centres in the region.
In many cases people go from our urban pathways to our natural trails. It is therefore important to consider our pathway and trails networks as one larger network.
While the natural area walking track network is extensive in places, they are not well connected to the urban areas and not effectively marked with trail heads or signage. The existing network of bushwalking tracks provides well for walkers seeking longer adventure walks but does not meet the needs for the broad range of recreational walking styles identified within the community. For example, if a person is looking for a short 30-minute circuit to walk their dog in the afternoon do they have that option available. In many cases they don’t.
Walking
Walking infrastructure includes footpaths, trails and bush walking tracks The urban and residential areas in many of our towns are served by a network of existing infrastructure for pedestrians in the form of footpaths and shared paths (an off-road pathway shared by pedestrians and cyclists), with a mixed level of service provision from suburb to suburb, and town to town. In our smaller villages there is often limited provision, and often the residents value this in their towns. We will seek to balance the provision of path networks with ensuring that we protect what the community values.
Taree is a town that has extensive footpaths as these were provided over many years as the town was established. These footpaths are not just on major roads, but are also in our neighbourhoods, and often join communities together through laneways. Taree also has several riparian corridor trails that provide both recreational and active transport opportunities. An example of this is Browns Creek and the new multi-use pathway linking several neighbourhoods. This new trail also links the community with community infrastructure, such as sports fields. Our aim is to provide a path network that links facilities together, so that the community is encouraged to walk or cycle from one to another.
Cycling
As noted previously cycling has two specific outcomes, transport and recreation. In regard to cycling, our area has a great cycling culture for the experienced cyclists or the dedicated weekend rider. The less crowded roads in our region, and especially our rural areas provide good riding opportunities for experienced and confident riders. However, the bike routes within our urbanised areas have not been fully developed.
The implementation of the bicycle network has been fragmented, for various reasons, including a very limited annual budget for bicycle capital works, little budget for bike education and participation programs, and the high cost of bike infrastructure construction.
Linking communities and their infrastructure
Throughout our parks and recreation planning documents we have identified the need to see our community facilities as hubs, where the community can come together to undertake several different activities, such as sport, play, skate, and general exercise, all in the same location. Whilst providing carparking in these activity hubs is important, we also want to encourage our community to walk and cycle to them, and between them. Therefore, when we are planning these spaces, we will include both internal and linking path networks, to encourage active transport.
Another reason that we are focused on linking our community facilities together, through connecting paths and trails, is to reduce isolation. Many health experts report that one of the most critical drivers of the recent increase in people reporting mental health issues, including loneliness, is a feeling of being isolated. When we are planning our path network, we are seeking to achieve a sense of connectedness. Likewise, when we are working with land developers, we are seeking to ensure that paths and trails are included in new urban developments, and that new developments are linked to existing population centres. This linking allows our community to choose active transport options, and to lessen that sense of isolation.
New Developments – Case Study – Brimbin
The importance of ensuring that new urban developments provide for public open space, and community physical activity opportunities, is vital to delivering community outcomes. New urban developments are continually being planned and delivered in our region. We work with developers to ensure that these new housing developments are designed to ensure that they align with all our parks and recreation planning documents.
Over the life of this strategy the Brimbin (a new town in the MidCoast LGA) urban development is being delivered. As a case study of how we are ensuring that our community continues to enjoy our quality of lifestyle we provide significant input into the Brimbin planning. All the planning concepts described in this Strategy are being applied to the delivery of this new urban development.
Trails, footpaths, and connectivity is vital to the development. The public open space vision for the Brimbin development states:
“The Open Space Strategy for Brimbin New Town is to deliver a connected open space network that is linked to an uninterrupted system of trails, footpaths and share paths. A key aspect to deliver a connected open space network is the provision of a linear open space network that consists of connected active green corridors that run along existing riparian areas and surround the central lake. Brimbin New Town’s linear open space network seeks to optimise existing green systems to service the entire communities, promote wellbeing and generate activity through active travel and connect open spaces. This concept reinforces the notion of 15-minute neighbourhoods, as the linear open space network is a form of green infrastructure that encourages people to engage in active modes of transport. The linear open space network provides linkages from the Mixed-Use Centre and neighbourhoods to Brimbin’s ‘jewels’ which include three sports fields all co-located with the proposed schools and an expansive recreational open space framed by the existing major ridgeline and hilltops to provide scenic views to the lake and open area.”
Walking with Dogs
Walking with domestic dogs is one of the most popular sub-sets of walking. Ausplay data indicates that walking with dogs is one of the most popular activities that Australians undertake. Getting home from work and taking the dog out for a walk in the evening, either around the block or down to the local park or beach is very popular, especially in the MidCoast area.
During the consultation that we conducted for this Strategy in 2024 there were many references to dogs, and walking with dogs. Most were positive, suggesting new walking opportunities. However, there were also many that wanted us to do more to highlight where and when dogs could be walked off-leash in certain areas, especially on our beaches.
There were also several submissions saying that dogs (and other animals, including horses) were an issue for people that were out walking. The public wants clarity.
It is not the intent of this strategy, or the OSRS, to do a deep dive into managing dogs. Both documents do speak about dogs, with the OSRS listing all the areas that dogs can be walked offleash. However this is a specific area that is better addressed from a regulation and compliance perspective.
The “Ways”
During community consultation in 2022 and 2024 there were a number of suggestions for specific point to point trails and paths along The Lakes Way, The Bucketts Way, and Thunderbolts Way As examples these include Smiths Lake to Blueys Point, Forster to Green Point, North Tuncurry to Failford, Gloucester to Barrington and Booral to Stroud.
The Ways are long-distance country roads, being one lane for most, if not all of their lengths. The shoulders on them are limited to non-existent, making provision of on-road cycleways impossible. Along the Ways there are many settlements. We understand that there are quite a few opportunities to link these settlements for pedestrians and cyclists
Some of the projects suggested during community consultation for the Ways are covered within the PAMP. However, where the suggestions aligned with the outcomes of their strategy, i.e. linking parks and reserves to people, then we have considered them for inclusion in the action plan
We also understand that the management of the Ways rests with both us and the NSW Government. Therefore, even when opportunities have been identified, we will need to work collaboratively with the state to progress projects.
Bicycle NSW
Bicycle NSW is the peak body for cyclists and cycling in NSW. They provide guidance and support to Councils in the development of planning strategies as well as support in implementing actions from their strategies. BNSW has developed a community of interest, where land managers are able to seek advice and compare projects. It is our intention to be involved in this community, which we know will benefit our community in the long-term.
The importance of town loops
A number of actions in the first action plan are for the investigation of providing town loops for walking, and to a lesser extent cycling.
The MidCoast region is quite unique, in that we have 195 towns, villages and settlements. The majority of these are small, with their populations being quite small. These small towns were settled many years ago, in some cases in the late 1800’s or early 1900’s. They have narrow twolane roads through town. Many of these towns have limited or no footpaths.
With the significant increase in participation in walking in Australia (now at 60% of people reporting undertaking physical activity according to Ausplay data) there is a greater need to provide for these activities. However, with many of our towns not having off-road paths this is difficult. We have heard through consultation that people are walking on the sides of roads, often very busy roads, to undertake their regular walks.
It is considered important that we provide opportunities for walking in our small settlements, and providing town loops is the way to do that. The action is to investigate each town loop, as we need to confirm where these off-road trails can go, and can they provide a loop around the town.
In some cases it may not be feasible or viable to provide a town loop. Factors such as geography and topography might mean that it is impossible to find a way to provide a full loop. Also, in some cases the route may not provide for inclusion of all participants. Many of our towns have creeks and rivers through them, often creating barriers where very expensive bridges are the only option. Even though creating walking opportunities is important, we will not do so if the expense of doing so is prohibitive.
WALKING AND CYCLING ACTION PLAN
Walking and Cycling Action Plan
The following section provides the future Action Plan for our walking and cycling infrastructure.
Many of the actions contained within the Action Plan were identified within the OSRS. Their identification came from community feedback and from analysis.
Further community engagement in 2024 identified more actions that the community supported.
In developing this action plan the existing path and trail portfolio has been assessed for its functionality and location.
The following table shows the actions to add to or improve our path and trail network over the period of this strategy. The Action Plan is displayed with the following metrics: Key
Site Park in which the facility is located
Suburb Physical location of the facility
Action
Priority
Rationale
Details the specific action to be carried out for the facility
Details the priority that the provision or upgrade is to take place. The priorities are broken up as follows:
S – Short-term priority. 0 – 3 years
M – Medium-term priority. 4 – 8 years
L – Long-term priority. 9 – 11 years
Brief description that justifies the action.
Pacific Palms Sports Complex
Boomerang Beach Provide pathway connection from housing development to the south to allow community access to sports fields
X Action #5 e) from the OSRS
2 Bulahdelah Bulahdelah Investigate pathway from town centre to Mountain Park.
3 Coomba Park Coomba Park Investigate the following projects:
a) linkage to join lakeside Walks, including to Clive Manners Walk
f) an accessible boardwalk with educational signage; behind the mangroves
4 Crowdy Head Lighthouse Crowdy Head Investigate a loop trail from town around the lighthouse.
X Providing a link from the town centre to Mountain Park will allow users of the skatepark to travel to the park, as well as then connecting to the Allum Mountain trail.
X Action #17 from the OSRS
5 Cundletown Cundletown Investigate the potential corridor and future construction of a walk and cycle link to Brimbin
X This is a popular walk from town up around the lighthouse and back around Back Beach. Formalising this will create a great walking opportunity for the community and visitors.
X Action #26 from the OSRS 6 Forster Forster Extend Little Street foreshore walkway to Forster Keys as part of the Lakes to Oceans Trail
X Action #33 a) from the OSRS
7 Forster Forster a)Investigate completing missing links and formalisation of the Lakes to Ocean walking circuit
b)Investigate, design and construct improvements to Rotary Walk at One Mile Beach
d)Investigate developing pedestrian linkages through drainage reserves – Cape Hawke Drive to Lakes Estate to Lakes Drive X Action #36 from the OSRS
8 Gregory Reserve Forster a) Extend the Pelican Boardwalk on the river foreshore in Forster
9 Boronia Park Forster Investigate the construction of a path around Boronia Park
X Action #38 from the OSRS
X This would provide a walking and cycling pathway that would be attractive for children and would provide an off-road learn to ride circuit.
10 Billabong Park Gloucester Investigate the following project: f) Upgrade rider training course X Action #42 from the OSRS
11 Gloucester Gloucester Investigate collaboration with landowner to extend the Bucketts Walk.
12 Hallidays Point Hallidays Point Investigate coastal path from Black Head to Red Head village – continue through Seascape development to Diamond Beach and then through to Saltwater in accordance with existing planning.
13 Harrington Harrington Consider the following project:
a)Construct cycleway between Harrington and Crowdy Head
14 Oxley Reserve Harrington Consider the following projects:
a) continuation of the multi-use pathway from the bowls club to the skatepark and beyond to the Marine Rescue.
b)Develop masterplan for Oxley Reserve
X
X Action #44 from the OSRS
X Action #58 b) from the OSRS
X Action #60 from the OSRS
Potential for this to be a railtrail following the original rail line.
This is the missing link that will provide a continuous pathway along the whole of the Harrington foreshore, linking the whole community and joining assets such as the playspaces and skatepark.
15 Johns River Johns River Advocate for the provision of a multi-use path around the town
16 Lansdowne Recreation Reserve Lansdowne Investigate the provision of a walking loop around the sports field
17 North Arm Cove North Arm Cove Investigate public waterfront access pathways and build paths for pedestrian access to the water.
X Action #67 from the OSRS
X This will create an attractive off-road walk for the community.
18 Mammy Johnson Reserve Stroud a) Consider providing pathway access to the water via Mammy Johnson Reserve.
X Action #77 i) from the OSRS
X Action #92 from the OSRS
19 Stroud Stroud Construct a town loop that could include the existing Heritage Trail, the showgrounds, Mill Creek, Mill Brook and the common X There is high demand in the community for a town walk.
20 Browns Creek Reserve Taree a)Consider underpass for the shared cycleway between Browns Creek and Victoria St
21 Taree Recreation Grounds Taree Investigate replacement of the Dawson River Boardwalk and extend trail network in accordance with the MidCoast Regional Sporting Precinct Masterplan.
22 Manning Waters Reserve Taree Investigate provision of a walkway along the river connecting Bays Hill Reserve with Link Street
23 Tea Gardens & Hawks Nest Tea Gardens & Hawks Nest Investigate creating town loops for walking
24 John Wright Tuncurry Investigate continuing path from the park around the slipway.
X Action #96 from the OSRS
X Action 103 b) from the OSRS
Action from the Taree Recreation Grounds Masterplan.
X There is a raised decking boardwalk about 100 m long but does not link.
X There is demand in the twin towns for an offroad walking loop.
X This is a missing link, from John Wright Park up to the Rockpool
25 Wallabi Point Road
Wallabi Point Investigate continuing multiuse off-road path on Saltwater Rd linking to NPWS land.
X Saltwater Road is the main access to Wallabi Point. The path ceases at Walter Fay Rd. The continuation of the path will create walking and cycling opportunities for the community.
26 Cedar Party Creek Recreation Reserve
Wingham
a)Investigate linkages from Cedar Party Creek Recreation Reserve to town centre
27 Regional Various Investigate more cycling racks, especially in major centres, such as Taree, Wingham and Forster
X Action #123 from the OSRS
X Action #41 from the OSRS
28 Regional Various Review the alignment of pedestrian entrances into each reserve to ensure they are connected to pedestrian crossings and thoroughfares.
X Action #10 from the OSRS
PART 2
BUSHWALKING AND TRAIL-BASED ACTIVITIES
Part 2 – Bushwalking & trail-based activities
This section of the Strategy deals exclusively with bushwalking and trail-based activities. We believe that trail-based activities are significant enough to provide a separate section from the general section of this Strategy.
Even though walking and cycling for exercise, and bushwalking and cross-country cycling are the same physical activity, they can be undertaken by different cohorts of the community, in different settings, and for completely different reasons, with the infrastructure that they require also being different Often exercise is not the reason that people bushwalk or cycle in the bush
People are seeking a unique experience from trail-based activities that relates exclusively to the environment in which it is taking place. A walk around the block is different to a walk through a bushland setting. This difference can be referred to as the “quality of experience”. The experience of bushwalking is different from the experience of walking through an urban park, a coastal reserve or along a footpath.
Our region has an extensive network of parks with tracks and trails in them, however, most of them are located on land that is not managed by us. A significant amount of bushland and trails in our region are in national parks, managed by NPWS. For example, just along the Pacific Highway, between Taree and North Arm Cove there are many small national parks and nature reserves, such as Wallamba Nature Reserve, Wang Wauk National Park, Wallingat National Park, Bachelor State Forest, Karuah National Park and Wallaroo National Park. All offering great trail-based opportunities.
In addition to these parks, we manage 1474ha of bushland, over 152 different parks and reserves, many of which are small, or close to urban centres, often with mixed flora that may not be classic “bush”. We support our fellow land managers as we encourage our community to visit these trails. On our land our trail portfolio is very site specific, in that some towns are well serviced by trails that are close to them and easily accessible. And some are not. Gloucester would be an example of a town with many bushwalking experiences close by. Whilst other towns have very few trails in their vicinity. Wingham would be an example of a town with very few bushwalking experiences close by.
Background
The MidCoast Local Government Area (LGA) is one of the most species-diverse regions in NSW. Most of the MidCoast area still maintains large areas of native vegetation. Much of this vegetation occurs in the western portion of the LGA, which is where the majority of our medium to long distance trails are also located, including the UNESCO listed Barrington Tops National Park 5
In the future we are going to see a significant increase in urban expansion occurring in many areas of our region. This expansion offers opportunities for more people to have access to our parks and the trails in them, but it also puts carrying capacity pressure on those same areas. It is therefore important that we identify our natural assets, as well as identify the value that being in nature plays in providing the lifestyle that we all enjoy.
The development of formalised tracks and trails will serve as an important natural, educational, and recreational resource for the MidCoast area. The walking tracks will conserve the significant ecological value of the bushland whilst also developing the area’s ability to accommodate the recreational and educational needs of the tourism market.
Is there anything better than walking along a trail in a Gondwana forest, like our Barrington Tops?
Trail-based activities are undertaken by people that want to be in nature. This is often referred to as “quality of experience”. For people undertaking trail-based activities the environment in which it is undertaken is paramount to the experience. This is often not the case with walking in urban areas.
The latest research shows that there are direct benefits to human health that come from being in nature 6. Therefore, the provision of infrastructure, such as trails, in nature, has a direct benefit on the health of our community.
The concept of “nature as infrastructure” is a new way of looking at and valuing our natural spaces. In the Finance section of this strategy, we highlight the work done by KPMG (2021) in calculating the value that built infrastructure, such as sports fields, courts and recreation trails return to the community, but now we are considering the value that the community gains from the actual natural spaces where we recreate.
A new tool has been developed to allow land managers to quantify the value of our public open spaces, in the case of the MidCoast area the 4151ha that we manage.
Central to this new way of thinking about nature is communicating that nature is an asset just like other built infrastructure. It generates incredibly valuable ecosystem services that are critical to human well-being and economic prosperity. In the same way we consider roads and hospitals as infrastructure, we must embrace Nature as Infrastructure, and transform the way we recognise the value of nature and enhancing investment in the protection of it.
To help address this, researchers have developed Nature as Infrastructure 7; an interactive tool that collates the siloed, often complex research and information into one central resource for the planning, design and construction of parks infrastructure
The tool is designed to draw connections between the multitude of benefits and features of natural infrastructure and fold in the various disciplines required to improve urban liveability and development outcomes.
Our OSRS highlighted the value that we place in our natural spaces, and tools such as this allow us to manage this valuable legacy more sustainably for future generations.
Our trail network and how we manage it is a key deliverable of our stewardship.
PLANNING FOR BUSHWALKING AND TRAIL-BASED ACTIVITIES
Planning for Bushwalking and Trail-based Activities
Bushwalking is the primary activity that takes place on our trails. Bushwalking is defined as:
Walking, hiking, or backpacking in natural settings.
The MidCoast area abounds in natural settings, that are attractive for undertaking bushwalking and other trail-based activities
AusPlay Participation Data, produced by the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) outlines that walking (recreational) is the most popular physical activity among Australian adults, with 48% of Australians reporting that they participate in walking for recreation on a regular basis. Specific types of walking, including bushwalking, are highly popular. For more information on Ausplay data, and its use for planning see the relevant section in the OSRS.
However, data also recognises that the percentage of people undertaking bushwalking is dependent on having access to natural areas, which have attractive and accessible trail networks. It is self-evident that areas without natural settings, or which lack a comprehensive trail network have very low bushwalking participation rates. The MidCoast area has these areas of natural beauty, with, in many cases, trail networks.
We also recognise that many of our natural areas, that also have the trail networks, is not land managed by us, but in almost all cases is land that is managed by the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS). The MidCoast area abounds in national parks, and this strategy does not deal with them. However, we recognise that people who bushwalk do not care about the tenure of the land on which they are walking, but rather value the experience. We will seek to work collaboratively with the NPWS to ensure that bushwalking in the MidCoast region is enhanced.
On land that we do manage, we are seeking to develop trail networks, that are well designed, constructed, and maintained. We will also seek to ensure that our trail network does not have significant adverse impacts on the natural environment and local cultural heritage. Trails can have beneficial impacts on these features through facilitating responsible and low-impact experiences, with natural and cultural heritage features promoting conservation and preservation efforts from the local community.
What activities are covered in this section
There are several activities that fall under the general heading of trail-based activities. When we talk about trail-based activities and their infrastructure, we are talking about all those activities that can be undertaken on trails, which are generically referred to as trail-based activities.
• hiking
• bushwalking – day
• bushwalking – overnight
• bushwalking – multi-day (long distance)
• trail running
• trail running events
• orienteering
• rogaining
• sled-dogging
• horse riding (in relation to trails)
The benefits of trail-based activities
Recreational trails offer a diverse range of benefits to our communities and the environment. The main benefits promoted by peak recreation bodies and organisations are outlined below 8 .
Health Physical activity on trails can have positive health outcomes with regard to the nine National Health Priority Areas (NHPA) as outlined by the Australian Institute of Health & Welfare.
Transportation Trails offer practical transportation corridors to move people around a city or township through natural areas. This contributes to a region’s “liveability”.
Environment Conservation benefits of preserving important natural landscapes while allowing humans to experience nature with minimal environmental impact.
Economy Trails are important community amenities that support economic development including attracting visitors to the region.
Cultural identity Trails highlight and provide access to historic and cultural resources.
Recreational trails are invaluable. They help us forge deeper connections with nature and a greater appreciation of the world around us. Trails challenge us up mountains and down steep descents. They lead us to breathtaking views; they keep us healthy and even bring economic benefits through sustainable tourism. Recreational trails are the formal term for paths and routes used partly or solely for active recreation, leisure, and tourism purposes.
Trails come in all shapes and sizes and provide a range of uses from walking, cycling, mountain biking, trail running and horse riding, to specially designed wheelchair and baby stroller friendly trails. Trails can be single or shared use, on dirt roads, pathways, dirt tracks, old train lines and up mountains. In addition to providing health benefits and enjoyment, well designed trails can also help us protect our valuable environments.
What makes a good trail experience?
While a destination may have world class trails, it is the combination of trails and the overall visitor experience combined that makes trail destinations residents are proud of and visitors seek out.
Trails can be designed for various users. Trails provide outdoor recreational opportunities for local communities. They contribute significantly to our health and wellbeing and provide valuable commuting alternatives. There are visitors who travel around the world seeking Instagram worthy #epictrail experiences. This means that trail users today have higher expectations about their trail experience. Trail users anticipate ease of planning and fact finding, access, high quality regularly maintained infrastructure and facilities. Considering user experience is essential and central to all aspects of trail design and management.
Different types of trail experiences
The experiences we offer trail users are based on the planning phase of developing and understanding the broader vision and following guiding principles for trail development. The experience and the trail users will inform the type of access, materials, trail width, design and grading. The overall trail experience needs to be carefully packaged for the trail user type including facilities, signage, products and services and value-add activities.
During the planning phase of developing a trail, it's necessary to determine the needs of multiple user groups to appeal to multiple demographics. Planning will also need to anticipate usage rates and user capacity. Trails can be single-use or shared use. Where appropriate we will design trails that are shared use to ensure safety and visitor enjoyment without creating conflict between users.
Some of the most serious conflicts occur where off-road cycling is involved. Clashes between cyclists and walkers, trail runners, and horse riders are common. We are not able to guarantee that no clashes will occur, but we can plan to minimalise these clashes.
Some of the different types of trail experiences are outlined in the following sections.
Trail Types
Our countryside is covered in trails. They come in several different types, and the term “trail” (or track) is used to describe them all as a group. The following are some types of trails that are used for the activities that we have just listed:
• unsealed roads
• firetrails
• forestry trails
• rural trails
• bush trails
• rainforest trails
• single-track
• mountain bike trails
• bridle trails
• animal trails
• disused rail corridors
The types of trails can be further defined by their structure. In general, there are five different types of trail structures. Loop, Return, Point to Point, Stage Trails, and Pack Carry Trails. Each have their own advantages depending on what you’re looking for.
Loop Trails
Loop trails are great when you want to return to the same point. This way you only need to worry about getting to one destination and of course returning to that same destination.
These trails are also useful should you live in the particular area that the trail is located for a casual hike. In the MidCoast area these loop trails are mainly found near our population centres. The attraction of these trails is they enable people to plan a little less, be more spontaneous, and still be close to home
Return Trails
A return trail starts and finishes at the same location. Its furthest point is travelled to and from on the same path. In trail running vernacular this is an “out and back” trail.
Point
to Point Trails
These trails start at one point and end at another and sometimes vary depending on the trail chosen. These trails are best if you want to get from one point to another. Most often a car run will be necessary between starting and ending points. These trails take a far bit of planning.
Stage Trails
Stage trails mostly refer to long distance trails where the hike is so long that it is separated into separate stages. You pop in and pop out of the trail, curating your own experience.
These trails are also great for a challenge should you wish to push yourself in an attempt to complete either the entire hike or several stages in one go. Often these long-distance trails are used by trail runners for ultra distance events.
Pack Carry Trails
Similar to Stage Trails, Pack Carry Trails will have no other option but to camp in-between stages, and campsites are usually available on such hikes in order to do so.
Trail Planning Guidelines
The publication Sustainable Recreation Trails Guidelines 9 provides guidance for the planning, design, construction, maintenance and management of recreational trails. These guidelines currently represent industry best practice in Australia, with information derived from various national and international publications.
The trails and trail-based activities that we manage have one thing in common, they exist in our natural environment, which we often refer to as “bush”.
Trails (or tracks) through bush have an interesting genesis, or origin. Over decades or hundreds of years animals, and people, have wanted to move from one place to another. To do this they identified the easiest route, they took that route, and then others would come after them, pushing down the undergrowth, and forming a trail. Often a trail that we are walking on was in fact a trail that animals or indigenous Australians have walked along for millennia.
Only more recently have we started to plan trails more formally. This highlights that when we construct a trail now it is mainly for recreation, rather than a means to move from one place to another.
When we are planning trails, of which there are a number in the following action plan, the following trail planning principles have been developed to inform our trail planning:
Trail Planning Principles
• Ensure socially, economically, and environmentally sustainable trail development and management
• Provide trails which are readily accessible and provide links between communities and landscapes
• Provide a diverse range of trail opportunities relevant to the needs and demands of the community
• Maximise use of existing trails where they are appropriately located and have the capacity to sustain additional use
• Manage trails professionally, effectively, and equitably
• Provide safe trails through adherence to relevant legislative and activity safety requirements
• Encourage community involvement in the planning and design of trails
• Trails that have identified Aboriginal heritage values should involve local Indigenous People in their planning, design and interpretation.
• Support, promote and advocate for trail users in relation to relevant issues within the region.
• Partnerships with the private sector, the community, local businesses, tourism providers and other tiers of government to provide trails and associated facilities will be pursued where possible.
We plan very carefully about where we put trails, and the principles ensure that we do it sustainably.
It is fundamentally important that recreational trails are socially, economically and environmentally sustainable. Recreation activities that diminish natural values (biodiversity and landscape amenity) are generally inappropriate and not acceptable to the community or other stakeholders. It is vital, therefore, that high quality recreational trail experiences are developed in landscapes that are capable of supporting such activities.
The enhancement of natural areas through the protection of biodiversity and raising environmental awareness are key to the development of an environmentally sustainable trail network. This can be achieved through appropriate trail design, location selection and ongoing management.
Trails must also be economically and socially sustainable. There is a growing body of evidence which identifies the economic benefits that well-developed trails can bring to a local community and/or a region through increased visitation, including tourism. However, the development of recreation trails must also consider the sensitivities and desires of local communities.
While well designed and managed recreation trails can enhance the well-being of local communities by improving access and increasing physical activity, recreation trails development must take into consideration the views of residents and adjoining property owners.
Accessible Trails
Intertwined with the objective of sustainability is the need for trails to be accessible, where possible. One of the main roles of trails is to link communities to a variety of high-quality experiences and interesting natural and rural landscapes. In addition, trails can improve mobility and connectivity within and between urban areas. Trails which are readily accessible and provide links between communities and landscapes can enhance lifestyles through the promotion of physical activity, reducing the reliance on motorised vehicles and improving health and fitness.
Accessible Trails Principles
Accessibility is determined by:
• Proximity to the metropolitan area, population centres or tourist attractions.
• Proximity to transportation facilities such as railway lines or road network providing access to the site.
• Existing or proposed linkages to other trails and the wider trails network.
• Proximity to natural attractions such as scenic views, native vegetation, waterfalls, lakes and coastline.
• Presence of existing facilities that may support or facilitate use of the trail such as car parks, toilets, picnic facilities, camping sites, tourist information centres, cafes and tour operators.
• The nature of the terrain and landform.
• Access for emergency vehicles.
Proposals for new trails, or upgrades to existing trails, should clearly demonstrate that they meet at least half of the accessibility determinants expressed above. This will assist in the promotion of the trail to prospective user groups and ensure that any associated economic and social benefits are shared amongst nearby communities.
Trail Design Considerations
Key design guidance includes the following:
• Generally, it is preferable to design a trail system with loops and stacked loops that offer a number of options and a variety of experiences, while preventing the need to back track.
• The planning and design phase should clearly determine whether the trail is intended for single or shared-use; shared-use will encourage greater usage; however, they need to be carefully designed to avoid conflict between users.
• Identification of ‘control points’ (places of interest) will dictate where the trail should commence and finish, the location of parking areas, structures, road and water crossings.
• The most sustainable trails tend to have a low overall grade (less than 10% change in elevation) thereby minimising the potential for water erosion. They also tend to follow existing contour lines.
• Design should respond to ‘trail flow’; mountain bike riders tend to travel faster than walkers and horse riders and require a certain tempo/rhythm. Types of flow might be described as open and flowing’, ‘tight and technical’, or a combination of both.
• Once a preferred route alignment is identified consideration will need to be given to items such as trail dimensions (corridor/path width & height clearance), construction timelines, logistics of the build and responsibilities for associated infrastructure (such as signage, parking, stiles, crossings).
• Conservation values of the area need to be considered in terms of protecting habitat and areas of cultural significance through control and management of access.
Trail Construction Considerations
Trail Construction Considerations
Key construction guidance includes the following:
• There may be a need to clear obstacles from the chosen route. Tree and vegetation removal may require prior approval from relevant planning authorities such as local Council or from State Government.
• Trails are usually built on sloping ground therefore some excavation may be required. When tree roots or impenetrable rock make it difficult to establish a full bench a retaining wall can be built to support the downslope side.
• Natural surfaces will be suitable in many circumstances, whilst an artificial trail surface (such as bitumen, crushed rock, sand) may be required if anticipated user numbers are high.
• Types of surfaces are also dependent on the type of user.
• Running water will erode the trail so diverting surface water off the trail is a high priority, achieved using cross slopes, grade or drain dips and water-bars.
• Water crossings are sites that may have the greatest impact on water quality and the greatest potential to damage the trail.
• Where possible, low lying and boggy terrain should be avoided, otherwise a raised boardwalk or reinforced tread may need to be considered.
Trail Management Plan
A Trail Management Plan should be prepared that is both flexible and responsive to change whilst setting firm guidelines for future directions and priorities.
Trail Management Plan Considerations
A Trail Management Plan should include:
• Philosophical background to trail development.
• Statement of guiding principles.
• Trail construction standards.
• Target user groups and user experiences
• Risk management policy
• Hazard inspection policy
• Promotional and interpretation policy
• Group usage policy and guidelines
• Annual trail maintenance program
• Clarification of management roles and responsibilities
• Promotional mapping and brochures
• Fire management and emergency evacuation procedures.
Trail projects will inevitably involve a range of partners and it is crucial to clearly establish roles and responsibilities for all those involved. Ongoing trail maintenance is also essential and a clear and concise management plan including a regular maintenance program will assist in managing ongoing resource demands.
Maintenance can generally be divided between regular inspections and simple repairs, potentially undertaken by a variety of individuals ranging from land manager’s staff and contractors to volunteers under skilled supervision. Maintenance activities are most likely to address issues of regrowth vegetation, damage to signage and accumulation of litter/debris.
Land Tenure
Another unique aspect to bushwalking trails is their linear nature, which results in mixed tenure arrangements needing to be instigated to create the trail. There are very few trails where the one landowner controls all the land involved, except for national parks.
Often, we will need to enter MOU arrangements with other land managers and private landowners to set the trail up. These arrangements often require the “right to access” of the public across private land.
Collaboration with other land managers
Even though we manage more than 4100ha of public open space we are not the largest land manager of bushland in the MidCoast area. Most of our native bushland is national park, and therefore is managed by the NSW Government, through the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS). As many of our parks neighbour each other it is imperative that we provide linkages from one park to another. The community is looking for opportunities to undertake high quality bushwalking, and other trail-based activities, and often these are created by providing these links, or in some cases working together to provide long-distance trails that cross mixed land tenures.
An example can be found in the action table below. The action highlights that a trail from Celito Beach down to Seal Rocks would be a highly valuable trail, going along the escarpment for much of its length. However, because it involves both crown land managed by Council, and national park land the two organisations will need to work collaboratively to investigate the potential project.
Long Distance and Short Distance Trails
People wishing to undertake a bushwalk will have different desired outcomes from their experience. Some will be looking for a 30-minute walk along a trail near their home, maybe to walk their dog in the evening. Whereas other people might be looking for a day walk, or even a multiday bushwalk. Because our portfolio of 1,474ha of bushland is made up of 154 different parks and reserves our individual bushwalking offerings are mainly the shorter duration walks. In addition, our parks and reserves are often closer to our urban centres, easier to get to, and more developed. For this reason, we tend to focus our trail provision on the shorter walks and leave the longer ones to NPWS. You will notice in our bushwalking action plan that most of the actions are for shorter trails.
Trails for Eco-tourism
Ecotourism encompasses nature-based activities that increase visitor appreciation and understanding of natural and cultural values. They are experiences that are managed to ensure they are ecologically, economically and socially sustainable, contributing to the wellbeing and conservation of the natural areas and local communities where they operate 10
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) defines ecotourism as the:
“environmentally responsible visiting of relatively unspoilt natural areas, in order to enjoy and appreciate nature (and any accompanying cultural features—both past and present), that promotes conservation, has low negative visitor impact, and provides for beneficially active socio-economic involvement of local populations.”
Experiencing nature is a primary motivator for visitors to our area. The MidCoast area is seen as being a great coastal and mountain destination, offering an all-round visitor experience. We have a natural competitive advantage in providing visitors with high-quality ecotourism experiences because of our world-class coasts and parks, including the Barrington Tops UNESCO World Heritage listed national park.
Our parks play a substantial role for ecotourism. The parks in our region, both national parks and our regional and local parks are attractors for visitors to experience their value.
People are increasingly seeking an ecotourism experience, and they most often seek out trails that can take them into these pristine natural places. Getting “lost” while finding the Antarctic Beech Forest walking track at Gloucester Tops is one of many highlights for people’s walking experience in our region. These people are just as likely to take a walk up the Bucketts Scenic Walk in Gloucester, or even a more leisurely walk along the Gloucester River walk.
Whatever trails our visitors are experiencing we know that when they come, they have an impact on our local economy. So when we plan our trails we are planning for both our local residents and our tourists.
Signage
One of the most important aspects of providing for bushwalking experiences and for trail development and provision is signage. There is no other recreation activity that people do that relies as heavily on signage as bushwalking. People need to know where a trail starts, how long it is, how difficult it is, when to turn left or right, and where the facilities are. Signage should be part of trail development and should be one of the first things thought of. Where we have trails with no or poor signage we will seek to put in signage.
To assist us do that we have developed a simple signage guideline.
Signage Guidelines
Key elements for consideration when developing signage for recreational trails are outlined in the table below.
Adherence to recognised standards
Consistency and uniformity of signage
Quality information
Location of signage
Visually attractive and simple
Signage material
Signage types
Trail construction, signage and trail markers, and trail classification will comply with recognised Australian standards, thereby ensuring a high quality and safe experience for all trail users
Signage is recognised as an essential element of a quality trail, and all signage erected at trailheads, along nearby and adjoining roads conform to accepted standards and will maintain a consistent theme along the entire trail
As well as brochures and mapping, quality on-trail information needs to be provided. Quality information needs to be distributed widely through a range of methods.
Signs should be designed and placed with consideration of approach speed, impact on the scenic amenity and ability to be seen without obstruction of trees etc.
Signs need to be visually attractive, easy to comprehend and suitable to the natural surroundings
Signs need to be built to be resistant to factors such as vandalism and extreme weather events
There are a range of different classifications for recreational trail signage. These can be classified by the following:
1. Trailhead
2. Waymarking
3. Directional
4.Interpretive
5. Management/warning
BUSHWALKING AND TRAIL-BASED ACTIVITIES ACTION PLAN
Bushwalking & Trail-based Activity Action Plan
The following section provides the future Action Plan for our bushwalking infrastructure. Many of the actions contained with the Action Plan were identified within the OSRS. Their identification came from community feedback and from analysis. In developing this action plan the existing trail network has been assessed for its functionality and location.
The following table show the actions to add to or improve our trail network over the period of this strategy. The Action Plan is displayed with the following metrics: Key
Trail Start
Trail End
The location that the trail starts
The location that the trail ends
Action Details the specific action to be carried out for the facility
Priority Details the priority that the provision or upgrade is to take place. The priorities are broken up as follows:
S – Short-term priority. 0 – 3 years
M – Medium-term priority. 4 – 8 years
L – Long-term priority. 9 – 12 years
Rationale Brief description that justifies the action.
30 Elizabeth Beach to
Investigate the formalisation of the existing firetrails to create a multi-use trail from Tuncurry to Black Head.
Investigate trail from Lakes Way to Boomerang Beach township through reserve.
X Potential for new trail would provide an off-road trail between the two towns.
Park # Trail Start Trail End Action
29 Tuncurry Black Head
Important recreational opportunity for mountain bikers
Boomerang Beach Boomerang Beach
31 Boomerang Beach to Blueys Head Boomerang Beach to Blueys Head
32 Forster Booti Booti National Park
Investigate a trail from Boomerang Beach to the southern end of Blueys Beach.
Investigate linkages from the Forster township through to the PWS managed lands
X
This would provide a high value short trail that could be used by both residents and tourists.
Action #34 from the OSRS
33 Forster to Green Point via Wallis Lake Forster to Green Point via Wallis Lake
Investigate a walking track along Wallis Lake to link the two centres.
34 Coopernook Cattai a) Investigate a Coopernook to Cattai Wetlands linkage in collaboration over private land b)Investigate developing a multiuse trail from town to Harrington over private land
35 The Sanctuary Forster Investigate extending the trails network throughout the park.
X If this route is feasible then it could be an alternative to a pathway along The Lakes Way. This could be investigated as part of The Lakes Way Trail feasibility study.
Action #19 from the OSRS
Action #39 a) from the OSRS
36 Barrington Tops Gloucester b) Continue to advocate for the development of mountain bike and bushwalking trails within Barrington tops and surrounding areas
Action #41 from the
37 Providence Park Hawks Nest New trail at Hawks Nest Foreshore linking Providence Park with the 4x4 access track at Sanderling Ave through to National park Boundary via Micheal Rowe Walk trail.
X Creates a foreshore park that will attract high use.
38 Langley Vale and Lansdowne Langley Vale and Lansdowne Investigate opportunities for the development of old tramways into walking and cycling trails.
X There is potential to convert the old tramway corridors into attractive medium distance multi-use trail.
39 Mudbishops Reserve Old Bar Extend, rationalise and enhance trails in the area, to include wayfinding and interpreting signage X Action #80 b) from the OSRS
40 Bluey’s Point Seal Rocks Work with NPWS and other landowners to investigate the provision of a walking trail linking Bluey’s Point, Smiths Lake, around the lake to Tarbuk Bay and down to Seal Rocks.
41 Smiths Lake Smiths Lake Investigate the corridor and construction of the foreshore trail
X
This would be a highly sought after bushwalking experience, both for locals and tourists.
The potential trail corridor covers Crown Land managed by MCC, National Park managed by NPWS and private land.
X Action #87 c0 from the OSRS. There is support within the community for the formalisation of the “High Water Trail around the lake. The environmental feasibility of the proposal would need to be confirmed.
42 Hughes St Reserve Taree Investigate the construction of a small trail network through the reserves, for walking and mountain biking. X Action 100 a) from the OSRS
43 Taree Taree Investigate the development of the Taree disused riverside rail corridor into a multipurpose trail creating a link between the urban area and the river in accordance with design principles as outlined in this strategy
44 Tinonee Tinonee Investigate using unused road reserves to create a town loop
X Creating a town loop that using road reserves that are not being used will benefit the local community.
45 Coastal Numerous
Investigate the following projects:
a) Pending results of other coastal trail investigations listed in other actions consider a potential MidCoast coastal walk, linking existing trails and paths crossing different land tenures from Hawks Nest to Crowdy Bay National Park.
b) Undertake a feasibility study investigating the value of a longdistance coastal trail.
X There is an opportunity to formalise all the existing coastal trails and paths, and build new paths and trails, into a MidCoast Coastal Walk. This would require collaboration between different land managers. This would open sections of the coast currently not connected such as Seal Rocks to Smiths Lake and up to Blueys Beach. The trail would start at Hawks Nest and go to the northern end of Crowdy Bay National Park, making it a 150km+ long-distance trail. Many of the trails that would become part of a coastal trail already exist, either on MCC or NPWS land.
MANAGEMENT AND MAINTENANCE
Management and Maintenance
It’s no use building it and then forgetting it, you must maintain it. Our community wants well maintained parks and facilities.
People like to walk and cycle in attractive places, either on our coastline or in our mountains, but they also like to walk in their neighbourhoods. Therefore, providing walking and cycling opportunities for people means making our parks and reserves attractive for walking and cycling.
In alignment with the MidCoast Open Space and Recreation Strategy 2023 – 2035 (OSRS) we will seek to manage our parks and facilities in the face of uncertainty, created by climate change and increasing impacts from overuse, through the impact assessment model, which is detailed in the OSRS, and which forms the backbone of our management approach.
Maintenance of our eco-systems is by far the most critical component of providing high quality spaces for our community. It is fairly easy to build something, but far more difficult to maintain it
All of the open space in the MidCoast local government area, and their associated buildings and infrastructure are maintained and managed by MidCoast Council. The high level of visitation to our reserves and the use of any infrastructure in them requires careful management and intensive maintenance of infrastructure and resources. Feedback from the Open Space and Recreation Needs Analysis 2022 indicated that visitors are generally satisfied with the cleanliness and maintenance of the individual parks and reserves. However, the community expect the assets to be maintained to a high standard.
This section of the Strategy details the services that we provide in managing and maintaining the sites to ensure that they are well maintained and therefore will be available for future generations.
In maintaining and managing our public open spaces the following activities are considered:
Activities and Events: Some of our reserves are also used for ‘one-off temporary events’ – the approval for events is assessed on the potential impact and time of the proposed activities, detailed under our Use and Hire of Public Open Spaces.
Waste Services: Garbage is collected from individual bin collection areas throughout the parks. Bins are collected by garbage trucks. Both garbage and recycling trucks enter the neighbouring streets around each reserve. A number of our reserves do not have bins.
Maintenance: We oversee all the maintenance requirements of the individual reserves. Council work crews have a program of maintenance seeing them do routine maintenance on a park roster basis. We are generally responsible for maintaining assets such as turf, gardens, paving, roads, fences, handrails and cleaning. We are also responsible for cleaning many of the facilities and amenities throughout the reserves. A service level review of all maintenance being provided by us is to be conducted in the short term, with a view of developing a Desired Standards of Service model.
In addition to the maintenance work that MCC undertakes there are a number of community groups that provide critical value-adding maintenance to our parks, reserves and the trails in them. These groups are local Lions, Rotary and progress associations. We also have “Friends of” groups that carrying out maintenance. We could not maintain our parks to the standard that we do without them.
Facility Maintenance: We maintain many of the facilities in our public open spaces where they are located.
Building Maintenance: Many of the buildings located in reserves are maintained and repaired by Council
Environmental Services: We are responsible for identifying and putting in place energy, water savings and renewable opportunities within reserves. This includes identifying ways to reduce waste to landfill; encouraging visitors to use sustainable transport options; educating the community on the environmental significance of the area; and preparing for the future impacts of climate change.
Safety and Regulations: Our rangers patrol the individual parks on a regular basis, enforcing regulations to promote safety and equitable access for visitors. Activities that adversely affect other patrons’ pleasure of reserves are regulated. On occasion rangers and other Council staff need to manage antisocial behaviour across the reserves. Controlled activities include dog walking, consumption of alcohol, commercial training, ball games, bicycle riding, skateboard riding, use of portable barbecues and littering.
Pathway and trail Maintenance: People like to walk or cycle on high quality paths and trails. The action plan in this strategy sets out the projects that we want to undertake over the period of the plan. But we can’t just build these paths and trails, we need to maintain them. We regularly upgrade and maintain our path network, as we identify issues and seek to improve the network. Many “missing links” are identified by the community, and where possible we will seek to “fill in” these gaps.
FINANCIALS
Financials
Funding for implementing this strategy will either be allocated for future upgrade works (capital works) or maintenance and management. Funding for the management and maintenance is currently provided through our annual budget allocation.
To fund the proposed new or upgrade works, we will set aside capital works funds in future years that will cover a percentage of the proposals in the strategy, which will be combined with any future grant funding.
Council’s budget for the strategy is not expected to accommodate all proposals in the short- or long-term plan.
Additional funding options that may be investigated include:
• State and federal grants
• Voluntary planning agreements
• Section 7.11 development contributions
• Partnerships with community groups or businesses.
The amount of funding through these streams is difficult to anticipate as it is dependent on grant programs.
Financial
The sustainable protection of our public open spaces, and the embellishment that we undertake on them to meet community need is expensive. The Action Plan in this strategy represents a significant investment by Council in the long-term viability of our public open space portfolio. The life cycle of this strategy is 11 years, and so the projects identified form a works schedule for that period. All projects have been given a time period priority, based on their importance to the community, and to ensure that infrastructure on our open spaces meet contemporary standards and remain safe and functional.
We do not bear all the financial burden of maintaining our open space and facilities Both state and federal governments acknowledge their role in protecting our environment, as well as ensuring that our communities are healthy, happy and active. They therefore provide contributing funds to the provision and upgrading of open space infrastructure. However, ongoing cost (OPEX – Operational Expense) is borne exclusively by us Therefore, the projects identified in the Action Plan have been well considered and have been driven by feedback provided by the community, on what they want their open spaces to be.
Even though the projects in this strategy are meant to be delivered within the life cycle of this plan, it is anticipated that some may not. In these cases, those projects will be tested in future reviews of the strategy, and if confirmed that they are still needed they will be “rolled over” into future versions.
Grant Management
The majority of recreation infrastructure provided on public open space by local government is funded, either jointly or fully, by grants. These grant programs are administered by either the NSW or Federal governments, through numerous funding programs. MidCoast Council does not have the financial resources to be able to fund all projects that need to be undertaken on our public open spaces, and so relies upon grants. Both Council and community groups are often eligible to apply for grants.
Council relies on community groups to not only make us aware of what they want, but also to advocate for it. Community advocates speaking with state and federal MP’s can often motivate their representatives to provide grant funding. There are several funding programs that are designed for local MPs to work with the community to identify and then apply for funding. We encourage community groups to be active in this regard.
How did we prioritise the actions?
We used five connected decision drivers to identify both the actions and their priority.
These are listed in the table below:
Decision Driver
Rationale
Evidence approach Each action has been tested through community feedback, analysis of community need, analysis of current activity trends and its impacts on the environment. The priority placed on each action is therefore a result of extensive analysis.
Equitable provision Actions were also developed through an equitable lens, in that each location within the LGA was considered for what they have received in the past, how long since that location received a new facility and the feasibility of delivering their individual projects at a certain point in time (e.g., availability of funding).
Asset portfolio condition
Financial Sustainability
As has been noted in the OSRS the state of our recreation portfolio is aged, and some of the individual components are no longer fit for purpose. In developing the actions and their priorities the condition of existing infrastructure, and its projected life was a strong determinant in setting its priority.
The prioritisation of the actions in the Action plan, and the ability for projects to progress to delivery in the future, has also been influenced by considering the associated financial operating model and/or the long-term asset management requirements in minimising future financial burdens to Council. This financial planning of actions also includes the consideration of access to future potential funding programs, the funds of which the vast majority of the actions will require.
Environmental considerations
Trails, and their construction, by their very nature, directly impact our natural environment. In providing these facilities we have an impact on the very thing that we seek to protect. Therefore, considering the impact on our natural environment during the planning phase of a potential new trail provides a clear position on whether the facility should progress.
If circumstances change, such as new funding programs, changes within individual communities, or changes in community participation we will revisit the priorities. This might mean a community comes to us and asks for a project to be brought forward, which, when considered, can be done, we will.
Not all actions listed will be completed in the life cycle of the Strategy. The review process identified will re-consider each action to ascertain its continuing applicability.
Benefit Cost Ratio (BCR) for Recreation Infrastructure
In 2021 the consultancy firm KPMG was commissioned by Sport & Recreation Victoria to produce a report on the value of recreation infrastructure to Australia, called “The value of community sport and active recreation infrastructure” 11 report. KPMG found that in any given year approximately $12B is spent by all levels of government, and the private sector, on sport and recreation infrastructure in Australia. KPMG estimated that for this $12B we receive a benefit of $16B, broken into three distinct categories: economic, social and health benefits.
Infrastructure Australia (IA), the peak government advisory agency, tasked with prioritising infrastructure projects and funding use the Benefit Cost Ratio (BCR) system to identify the value that infrastructure projects bring to Australia, and to decide whether a specific project should or should not be funded. The BCR is a simple equation that shows whether the return from a project exceeds the capital expense of the project. To calculate the BCR they take the total cost, and then divide it by the economic gain from the project. If the BCR is greater than 1.0 then the return is greater than the expense, if the BCR is less than 1.0 then the expense will exceed the gain.
When we input KPMG’s work into the IA’s BCR equation the BCR for recreation infrastructure is 1.33. That means that for every dollar that we spend on recreation infrastructure there is a return, to the community of $1.33.
Recreation infrastructure is often highly dynamic, technical, innovative and bespoke. Open spaces themselves, unless they are national parks, being preserved in their natural state for ecosystem and diversity protection, require regular maintenance to maintain them to a standard that is acceptable to the community. Our ultimate outcome is for our open spaces to be visited by the community, to achieve that outcome the open spaces must be maintained. However, that comes with costs.
These costs are ongoing and are often referred to as OPEX (Operational Expense). Maintenance forms one component of OPEX, but which is the most visual, with Council staff often seen in our open spaces doing maintenance. These operations come at a cost. Below is an indicative table for general maintenance of public open spaces. It should be noted that MidCoast Council has an open space portfolio of 4151ha (4,151,000m2).
Ongoing financials – OPEX
Recreation infrastructure involves a substantial upfront cost, commonly referred to as CAPEX (Capital Expense). This is often funded through a combination of state and federal government grants and council contributions. However, there are also significant ongoing costs, commonly referred to as OPEX (Operational Expense). OPEX is always borne by Council, as there are no funding programs that provide grants for OPEX. OPEX can include costs such as ongoing maintenance to the facility, insurances and depreciation. It is the depreciation cost that is the most significant, but which also is the most unconsidered. Depreciation is a figure calculated on the life of the asset. If an asset cost’s $2m to provide (CAPEX) and its life is 20 years, then a depreciation cost needs to be carried by Council’s budget for each year of the asset’s lifecycle.
Project Assessment
An open space and recreation infrastructure scoring matrix has been developed to help assess future projects and inform Capital Works programs. The matrix can be used for two specific purposes, namely, to ascertain if a project should proceed, and to compare one potential project with another. It is not required to be used for projects already endorsed by Council through adopted master plans, developer contribution plans or similar strategic plans.
The matrix is an assessment model that details key criteria and includes an associated scoring mechanism. This tool will assist us in comparing one project against another when funding is limited.
Each question has been given a weighting, as some questions carry more importance than others. For example, priority 1 “Aligns with the Open Space & Recreation Strategy” carries more significance as projects identified in the Action Plan of the Strategy have been tested with the community, against Council internal priorities and have been considered in our longterm financial planning.
To calculate the weighting on each criterion they have been placed in order of importance, with a percentage weighting allocated to each depending on importance.
Scoring Matrix for Prioritising Open Space and Recreation Facility Projects
Review and monitoring
If this strategy is to remain relevant in the future it is essential that its implementation is reviewed on a regular basis to ensure any relevant changes are incorporated. Changes that may need to be addressed include changes in community participation, project priorities, funding resources and new opportunities for future upgrades.
Given that community expectation and requirements change over time, this strategy also needs to have some flexibility to adapt to any changes of circumstance.
It is recommended that the strategy be reviewed in the following sequences and time spans:
• Annually; review progress and delivery of action plan.
• Every two years: review management and administration structures and update priorities
• Every five years: do a major review of all analysis and rationale. Review results against survey information, photographic record and register of correspondence.
