A report on the Trail Town Forum & Workshops held in Albany in late May 2018 has been released. The forum, which was co-hosted by the Great Southern Centre for Outdoor Recreation Excellence (GSCORE) and the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries (DLGSC), explored the key features of international trail destinations.

The forum attracted over 100 participants from across the Great Southern region, representing businesses, local government, state government agencies, industry and community organisations, local trail groups and clubs, and trail users.

One of the highlights of the forum was an interactive workshop in which participants were broken into groups based on trail user activities (e.g. hiking, cycling, horse-riding). Participants were invited to reflect on their own trail experiences, their understanding of specific trail user needs, and their knowledge of regional trail opportunities, to develop recommendations for future trail investment.

GSCORE  Executive Director, Dr Lenore Lyons said that participants in the interactive workshop produced almost 40 pages of detailed notes on their vision for trails in the region. The Workshop Report synthesizes these findings and reveals that trail users across the region share a common vision.

“Regardless of their preferred trail activity, be that hiking, running, cycling, paddling or horse-riding, trail users have a great deal in common,” she said. “They want well built, environmentally sustainable trails that cater to a diversity of trail experiences”.

“It is clear from reviewing the workshop notes that the participants were passionate about the potential for trail development in the Great Southern. One of the overwhelming themes to emerge from the workshop is that trail users want planning to focus on a ‘whole user experience’ rather than just one trail activity or trail type.”

Dr Lyons said that the workshop findings will form part of the background research supporting the development of a Great Southern Regional Trails Master Plan. The Report is broken into two volumes and can be downloaded from the GSCORE website:

Albany Trail Town Forum – Volume 1: Forum Proceedings

Albany Trail Town Forum – Volume 2: Interactive Workshop Notes