Natural Recreation

Did you know:

• In Council's community consultation, it was found that 68% of the resident population surveyed use paths at least monthly and 63% named bush-walking tracks as their number one priority for future investment.
  

• Many assume the bush-walks in the Blue Mountains are all state managed National Parks & Wildlife Service (NPWS), but Blue Mountains City Council actually manages over 120 kilometres of bushwalking tracks, including the major sections of the regionally significant ‘Charles Darwin’ walk in Wentworth Falls and the ‘Prince Henry Cliff Walk’ in Leura/Katoomba,

• Council has 130 tracks and 98 lookouts, as well as the many ‘track head’ parks.

• Council also manages 7 major cliff sport precincts for activities such as rock climbing and abseiling. It also provides a gliding launch pad in Blackheath.

Things to think about:

• Many of the bush-walking tracks and natural area infrastructure managed by Council are rapidly deteriorating and will require major investment, with 80% thought to be failing and under-funded.
  

Proposed Change/s:

• Council needs to increase investment in walking tracks and natural area recreation. Investment in maintaining and upgrading bush-walking tracks in particular will be prioritised according to the track's status in the proposed hierarchy.

More information:

• Go to The Draft Open Space & Recreation Strategic Plan - pages 42, 44 and 49 - 53