Too many places to look, not enough reliable information

A number of recreational walkers, cyclists, mountain bikers and horse riders we spoke with discussed the need for a single point of information on where people can go in the outdoors and what they can do there.

I’d love it if there was a central database where you can say ‘I’m in this area’, and then you can see tracks for horses, click on them and see the time they take, level of difficulty, parking availability, etc.

Horse rider, Waitaki District

The status quo, where agencies limit their information to their own areas – e.g. tracks on public conservation land are listed by the Department of Conservation, while tracks on council land are available on the relevant local authority’s website, private land trails may be on the Walking Access Commission’s site or nowhere at all – is needlessly complicated and makes it hard for people to get a complete picture of their options. It also makes it tricky for volunteer groups involved in creating new access opportunities to identify where the gaps are in their area, both geographically and in terms of the use type.

Additionally, information is listed in different formats and with significant differences in detail between different agencies and their websites, and the usability and functionality are often poor.

Our communications are really poor, our mapping is poor, we don’t know how to send people where there’s good infrastructure.

Local government parks and recreation staff member

The lack of a single trustworthy source of information is not just a hassle, but it can pose a safety risk, particularly in the high country where weather changes can be rapid and severe.

Even on lower altitude tracks, visitors who come without adequate clothing or sufficient fitness and preparation can be putting themselves at risk.

Our environment can be deadly — if people don’t get the right information.

High Country Landholder, Queenstown Lakes District

This information on what people can do and where they can do it could be easily combined with a behaviour improvement programme as well, teaching people how to behave responsibly in the outdoors. Integration between track and trail listings and the Mountain Safety Council’s new Plan My Trip tool will be crucial to helping to inform people about what they need to bring when going into the outdoors.