New Zealand walking and cycling strategies – best practice

Print version: New Zealand walking and cycling strategies (PDF, 2.9 MB)

2. Recommended structure for strategies

Early walking and cycling strategies (prior to 2003) tended to build a case for the support of these modes, culminating in the ‘business end’ of the strategy of objectives, policies and targets, with possibly specific projects for the council to implement. More recent strategies (for example Central Otago District and Tasman District) get right to the point, with the vision, objectives, policies and targets all at the front, allowing the reader to concentrate on the implications for the council and its community. This latter general structure is supported. Often this material can be contained in ten pages or fewer, followed by detailed background, analysis and implementation information.

Now that the principle of walking and cycling strategies is endorsed through central government programmes, policies and legislation (including the existence of the national walking and cycling strategy), there seems less need to justify each strategy with large amounts of preliminary information. The need for strategies is now well accepted. Councillors, stakeholders and other interested parties using strategies benefit by having critical content at the beginning of the document so that it is easy to find.

Background information providing additional justification for the strategy, such as data, trends, and supporting information from other local, regional or national documents, can be contained in additional chapters or appendices, or even in a separate document. Similarly, discussions about the following concepts, while important, can all be contained in appendices:

• The Four Es – engineering, education, enforcement and encouragement (Geelong Bikeplan 1977).
• The five-point hierarchy of measures for cycling provision – traffic volume reduction, traffic speed reduction, junction treatment and traffic management, redistribution of the carriageway, and cycle lanes and cycle paths (IHT et al. 1996).
• The five main requirements for cycling – coherence, directness, attractiveness, safety, and comfort (CROW 1993).
• The five Cs for walking – comfortable, convenient, convivial, conspicuous, and connected (DETR 2000).

Network plans and implementation programmes (sometimes called ‘action plans’ or similar) identifying specific projects and programmes should be referred to in the strategy to give them status but contained in a free-standing document able to be updated annually. These are as important as the strategy itself, as they translate the visions, objectives and policies into action on the ground and in the community. It is recommended that implementation programmes be incorporated within LTCCPs (and updated annually) and in Transit’s 10 year State Highway Plan to help ensure that the strategy is implemented.

The length of strategies needs to be carefully considered. Every page should earn its existence. Many good strategies of under 25 pages exist, yet two existing New Zealand strategies exceed 150 pages with their appendices. In the longer strategies, much of the material could not be described as ‘strategic’ and may be better suited to publication as a separate background report (real or virtual) for a more limited audience. The longer strategies tend to be older and to include detailed design information not widely available at the time they were prepared. Since about 2003, several planning and design manuals for walking and cycling have been released in New Zealand, obviating the need for local design information. In general, standards and design guidelines should be established nationally rather than locally. Existing documents are listed in Appendix 4.

A recommended strategy structure is shown in Figure 2.1. Other structures may suit different councils. Further explanation of the recommended components of a strategy is contained in Chapter 3.

Figure 2.1 - A recommended strategy structure

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Page created: 7 October 2008