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Category: Leisure activities

camping and caravanning; motoring; bushwalking; recreational cycling; horse riding; fishing; boating; adventure recreation; indoor recreation

Tread Lightly!

Tread Lightly! (Australia) was a community organisation established to promote responsible use of outdoor recreation sites by users. Queensland public servant Neil Ames has assembled this narrative, based upon recollections of the late John Wood, who was president for 10 years.

The model came from the United States where Tread Lightly (US) is still very alive and functional: see https://www.treadlightly.org/. Its mission has been “Promoting responsible recreation through stewardship, education and communication. Plus, we get out there and live it.” Tread Lightly (US) originated from the US Forest Service which wanted to partner with recreational users of forests to minimise recreation-related impacts resulting from all types of outdoor activities including off-road vehicles (mountain biking, bushwalking, camping, fishing, hunting etc).

Jan and Ivan Scudamore introduced the program into Australia in the early 1990s. Jan was Executive Officer of Tread Lightly (Australia) from its inception and the driving force. Tread Lightly (Australia) had a board and three chairmen over the ~10 years of operation, namely Brian Woodward, Rob Seymore and John Wood. Jan was also a board member of Tread Lightly (USA) and acquired a quantity of educational, training, promotional, research, management and operational material from the US Forest Service and the Off Highway Vehicle Association of USA.

Eventually it was decided to close Tread Lightly (Australia) down due to lack of financial support.

After an interregnum in the offices of Sport and Recreation Queensland based in Toowoomba, the collection of physical resources was secured by PaRC and many items scanned. The materials are not saved in a single digital location in the library, as the library is based on a keyword search engine, but the items that are not copyright are now accessible to all.

 


John Grieg authored a 17-page paper to the 10th Annual Conference entitled Appropriate Use of the National Parks System – An Off-Road Vehicle Users Perspective, dated 1987.

 


 

Review Status: Pending

MidCoast Public Toilets in Parks Strategy 2025 – 2035

MidCoast Public Toilets in Parks Strategy

 

Land managers, primarily councils, put a lot of assets into parks and reserves. Sports infrastucture, amenity buildings, playspaces. One of the most significant assets that we provide in our parks are public toilets. Public toilets are built in our parks because it is the only land that councils own, but more importantly, parks are major attractors for visitors, and it is people that are away from their homes, spending long periods of time, that are the main users of public toilets.

 

MidCoast Council has just adopted its new MidCoast Public Toilets in Parks Strategy. We have 108 public toilets in total, and 106 of them are in our parks and reserves. This represents a major investiment, with a single public toilet costing a minimum of $250,000, but often are closer to a million dollars. When you have a hundred of them that is a massive CAPEX investment. But public toilets are also our most expensive OPEX asset as well. They have to be cleaned once or twice a day. And they are also the target of vandalism, with cisterns being broken on a regular basis.

 

A public toilet strategy is a critical planning mechanism, as part of a larger parks planning portfolio.

Review Status:

“People Gardening”

Long-term recreation professional Peter Nicholls of Adelaide has generously agreed to provide the substance of materials on his website Australia’s People Gardener for re-presenting and curating on PaRC. Peter’s professional qualifications in the fields of leisure and recreation planning and development include:

 

  • Bachelor of Arts ANU Canberrra 1965
  • Graduate Diploma in Recreation Planning: Canberra University 1975, making him one of the pioneers of the professional recreation movement in Australia
  • Senior Recreation Planner (and various other managerial positions) with the South Australian Department of Recreation and Sport, 1976 – 1994
  • Recreation Planner City of Tea Tree Gully, Adelaide 1994 – 2002
  • Life Member and a past National and State President of his professional association, Parks and Leisure Australia.

A profile of Peter is also preserved on PaRC under the category “Inspirational People“.


THE BENEFITS OF CREATIVE LEISURE INTERESTS

LIST OF LEISURE/RECREATION IDEAS. Although this document includes 2005 in its heading, that is the date it was commenced. Activities have been added continuously since then.

BEING WHO YOU REALLY ARE IS A RISK WORTH TAKING

BEWARE OF THE RETIRED HUSBAND SYNDROME

DARE TO HAVE FAITH IN YOUR DREAMS

DON’T THROW YOUR ABILITIES AWAY. RECYCLE THEM

EMPLOYERS OF CHOICE WHY THEY ATTRACT STAFF LOYALTY

FEAR AND COURAGE THE ODD COUPLE

HOW MUCH WOULD YOU TRUST YOUR TRUE SELF

I WISH I WAS THE ME I ONCE WANTED TO BE

IT’S TIME TO TEAR DOWN THE WALL THAT SEPARATES WORK AND LEISURE

LIFE AFTER WORK WILL BE LIKE NOTHING YOU HAVE EVER KNOWN BEFORE

MY APPROACH TO EXPONENTIAL PERSONAL GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

MY DREAM FOR THE WORLD

MY LEFT FIELD PERSPECTIVE

SETTING THE STAGE

SPACE THE SEPARATION THAT KEEPS US TOGETHER

THE CHANGING ROLE OF BUSINESS IN MAKING SENSE OF WHY WE ARE HERE

THE ENQUENCHABLE YEARNING TO FOLLOW YOUR HEART

THE GLORIOUS ENIGMA OF UNCERTAINTY

WE NO LONGER ACCEPT LIFE IS OVER WHEN IT

WHY I WANT TO BE A KID AGAIN

WHY IT’S TIME FOR A PARADIGM SHIFT TO CONTINUOUS DEVELOPMENT

 

The above 23 files AGGREGATED

To be continued.

Review Status: Pending

Recreation Management Workshop – Brisbane Forest Park, October 1985

This compilation (29 MB) has far more useful information about the resources of the Brisbane Forest Park region than the title suggests. There are valuable accounts of the region’s natural resources, for just one example.

Management Perpectives
Regional and Community Perspectives – Dr. David Pitts 1.
Management of Brisbane Forest Park – Mr. Bill Carter 5
Management of National Parks – Mr. Mark Gough 11
Water Catchment Management – Mr. Bill Huxley 17
Mt. Coot-tha Management – Mr. Ross McKinnon 45
Forestry Management – Mr. Geoff Swartz 51

Park Resources
Research and Management of Geo-resources – Mr. Errol Stock 61
Soils – Mr. David Aust 73
Vegetation – Mr. Peter Young 83
Aquatic Resources – Mr. Hamar Midgley 99
Animal Resources – Dr. Kristene Plowman 105
Archaeological Record & Implication Introduction – Mr. Bob McQueen 109
Historical Record – Mr. Peter Marquis-Kyle 115
Counting the Users – Dr. Lex Brown and Ms. Leanne Wilks 121
Educational Uses by Brisbane C.A.E. – Mr. B. Cooke & Mr. I. Marsh 129

The Data Base
Rainforests – Mr. Bill McDonald 1.53
Open Forests and Woodlands – Professor Trevor Clifford 165
Climbing Plants – Ms. Elwyn Hegarty 169
Lichens – Dr. Rob Roberts 181
Themeda/Imperata Grass under story of Open Eucalypt Forest – Mr. Hendrik Dierich 187
Ecology of. Ferns and Fern Allies – Mr. Peter Bostok 189
Life Expectancy of Leaves of Wilkea macrophylla at Mt. Glorious – Dr. Rob Rogers 195
Vertebrate Fauna – Dr. Kristine Plowman 199
Management Studies – Mr. Peter Ogilvie 223
Utilisation of Lantana camara by Birds and Small Mammals – Dr. Peter Driscoll and Mr. Greg Quinlan 239
Habitat Utilisation by Rattus fuscipes and R. tunneyi – Mr. Neil White 247
A Suggested Timing for Controlled Forest Burning Based on Observations of Fledgling Vulnerability in Moggill State Forest – Mr. Peter’ Slater

Management Influences
Community Influences – Mr. Ken Stevenson 263
User Impacts in Rose Gum Flats. Picnic Ground – Mr. David Bluhdorn 269

Futures for and around Brisbane Forest Park
Recreation Planning For The Future – Ms. Dale Anderson 279
A possible future for Brisbane Forest Park – Mr. Bill Carter 285
A Viewpoint from the Department of Forestry – Mr. Peter Cranny 289
National Parks – Mr. Noel Dawson 295

Workshop Reports
Floristic Data Base Implications, Deficiencies and Recommendations – Dr. Bob Johnson.. ………….. 303
The Animal Data Base Dr. Greg Gordon & Dr. K. Plowman 307
Notes on Seminar-Management Influences – Dr. John Waite. …… 315
Notes on Seminar-Management Influences – Dr. David Lamb…… 319

Review Status: Pending

Freshwater Fish of the Yarra River

This mimeographed description of the native and introduced Freshwater Fish of the Yarra River has a pencil mark August 1984 on the front cover and is presumably the date it was compiled by the Department of Conservation Forests and Lands on Behalf of the MMBW.

PaRC is not a conservation archive, but this report qualifies for inclusion as fishing is a major recreational activity in greater Melbourne.

 


 

Review Status: Pending

Toowoomba Cycle and Pedestrian Strategy 2002

This ~68-page strategy, (55 MB) published in March 2002 and prepared inhouse by officers of Toowoomba City Council, aims to improve “the equity, accessibility, convenience and safety of cycling and pedestrian travel” for residents and visitors.

Principles articulated in the report:

  1. Consultation should be an open and accountable process and participation and input should be encouraged from all of the community, throughout the development and implementation of the strategy.
  2. Cycling and walking* need to be recognised as integral parts of the transport system and be considered in all landuse planning and transport designs.
  3. Cyclists can ride on the road or use paths (unless signed otherwise) and this choice should be supported with the appropriate combination of on-road and off-road facilities and integration into the planning and design of road networks.
  4. Facilities should be designed to encourage safe and responsible sharing of pathways and roadways by accommodating the different travel speeds of users.
  5. Education should form part of the provision of infrastructure to encourage people to use it appropriately and safely.
  6. Partnerships with other agencies, private enterprise and community groups are required for successful implementation of this strategy.
Review Status: Pending

Charter for Leisure

The World Leisure Organization passed the updated Charter for Leisure in 2020. Its text reads:

Articles
1. Everyone, whether adult or child, has the right to adequate time for rest and for the pursuit of leisure activity.

2. For those engaged in remunerated work, Article 1 requires recognition of the right to reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay, as well as remuneration for public holidays. Securing these rights generally requires national/ provincial legislation.

3. Article 1 also applies to those engaged in unpaid labour, for example domestic care-givers.

4. Everyone has the right to freely participate in the cultural life of the community.

  • Culture is viewed by the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights as including:
    ‘music and song, ceremonies, sport and games, natural and man-made environments’ and ‘the arts, customs and traditions through which individuals, groups of individuals and communities express their humanity and the meaning they give to their existence’. These activities depend on the provision of: ‘libraries, museums, theatres, cinemas and sports stadiums; literature, including folklore, and the arts in all forms; the shared open spaces essential to cultural interaction, such as parks, squares, avenues and streets; nature’s gifts, such as seas, lakes, rivers, mountains, forests and nature reserves, including the flora and fauna found there’.[i]
  • Participation in social and cultural activities includes engagement as: an active participant, a learner, a spectator or audience member or an unpaid volunteer.

5. Leisure is also a medium through which other rights and related benefits set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and associated covenants can be exercised, including: the physical, mental, emotional and social development of the child through play; support for family life; personal expression and development; sustaining of cultural life of the community; and promotion of physical and mental health and well-being through sport, physical activity and cultural engagement. Conversely, denial of time for beneficial leisure activity can have serious consequences for the well-being of individuals and societies.
6. These rights should therefore be observed and supported by all of society’s institutions, including commercial organisations, education institutions, professional bodies and non-government organisations. Governments at national, regional/provincial and local levels have particular responsibilities reflecting commitments under United Nations treaties and, in some cases, provisions in national constitutions and legislation.
7. Recognising that governments at all levels are not the only providers of facilities and services for leisure and that they face many challenges and competing demands for resources, they nevertheless have particular responsibilities to:

  • ensure availability and protection of land for open space for recreation in residential areas;
  • ensure preservation of, and public access to, natural and culture heritage;
  • ensure the provision of suitable space and facilities for children’s play;
  • support provision of health-enhancing amenities, such as facilities for sport and exercise;
  • support cultural institutions and activities;
  • ensure that all members of the community, regardless of age, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religion, ability or income, have access to beneficial leisure facilities and services;
  • support suitable training of a technical and professional work force for the leisure/ sport/cultural service industries;
  • support research on the benefits and costs of leisure activity and on the provision of leisure facilities and services;
  • include recognition of leisure-related rights in relevant national/provincial legislation and regulations, including those concerned with regulation of mass communications and digital media;
  • recognise, in national, regional and urban policies and plans, the contribution which leisure-related provisions can make to personal, social, cultural and economic development;
  • support other human rights which facilitate the participation in the cultural life of the community, including the right to food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services and security, as set out in Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

[i] UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (2009). Guidelines on Treaty-specific Documents to be Submitted by States Parties Under Articles 16 and 17 of the ICESCR. Document E/C.12/2008/2. New York: UN, pp. 4-5.

Review Status: Pending

Parks and Recreation Portfolio Planning Presentation

Parks and Recreation Portfolio Planning

 

This is a presentation that I gave at the Parks and Leisure Australia (PLA) 2024 National Conference in Brisbane.

The presentation outlines the portfolio approach to planning for parks and recreation.

Review Status: