27 December 2012

Western Bay of Plenty tracks now online

Finding walking, cycling, mountain biking and other recreational tracks in the Bay of Plenty just became easier, thanks to a decision by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council to make its track information available on the Walking Access Mapping System (www.wams.org.nz).

The free national mapping system, developed by the New Zealand Walking Access Commission, allows users to find publicly accessible land in the outdoors by overlaying access information on nationwide topographical and aerial maps.

The Western Bay of Plenty District Council is the latest organisation to make outdoor points of interest available on the system, and has uploaded beach access ways and walking, tramping, horse riding and mountain biking tracks across the district, including those in the new TECT All Terrain Park.

Commission Chief Executive Mark Neeson said the council’s decision would help raise awareness of some of the Bay of Plenty’s top outdoor spots.

“Increased awareness of outdoor access opportunities in the Bay of Plenty will help drive greater use of the tracks, as well as potential economic benefits to the region as a result of tourism.

“Many other councils around New Zealand will hold similar information of interest to people planning trips into the outdoors and we welcome approaches from those that want to make that information available to the public.”

Other organisations that are harnessing the mapping system to display outdoor-related information to the public include the Department of Conservation, Fish & Game Wellington and Manawatu Thursday Trampers.

New functionality allowing councils and other organisations to upload their own outdoor-access related information to the mapping system was introduced in October. Other recent enhancements include an upgraded user interface and a mobile-friendly version of the mapping system that works on smartphones and tablet devices.

For more information, please visit www.walkingaccess.govt.nz

ENDS

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