Far North Trails Plan - Te Mahere o ta ara tawhiti ki te Raki

The trails plan actions an identified need in the FNDC Integrated Transport Strategy’s action plan for investment in walking and cycling infrastructure in the district. The plan also responds to the Northland Walking and Cycling Strategy’s regional vision: “For Northland to be one of the world’s best coastal walking and cycling destinations where the journeys and stories are as impressive and memorable as the scenery.”

The existing Pou Herenga Tai Twin Coast Cycle Trail is the only all ages and ability trail in the Far North District. It runs from coast to coast linking the Pacific Ocean in the east to the Tasman Sea in the west across the bottom third of the district.

The Trails Plan aimed to create a cohesive network of trails, either connecting to (or separate from) the Pou Herenga Tai, providing benefit to both local communities of the Far North and tourists. Benefits of investment in trails was comprehensively covered, including impacts on health, tourism, road safety, Mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge), transport choices, and equity. The existing use of the Pou Herenga Tai Twin Coast Trail particularly by schools in Kaikohe provided important cases for investment, beyond providing a cycle trail for tourists.

Alongside the communities in the Far North, ViaStrada mapped out all the potential route segments. These were informed by existing trails/routes as well as proposed/planned routes from a wide array of organisations. The long list was reduced from 540 segments of lines on a map to 32 named cohesive routes. Following a multi criteria assessment the number of routes reduced to 10 and then 8 routes that proceeded to high level concept design. 

Final concept design included: 
•    Route extents, lengths, costs, and elevation profiles
•    Information pane with key information, type of trail, advantages, disadvantages, number of residents within 800 m of a route, and number of jobs within proximity of a route
•    Map pinpoints with marae, schools, key destinations, speed limits, town placenames, any nearby trails, and relevant photos
•    A route description, destination description and photo description were provided on another page
•    Facility type (e.g. shared path or low volume rural road) and need for road crossings and bridge changes was provided on a following page.

ViaStrada produced a visual report  of the Trails Plan methodology and resulting prioritised routes. Further information on the Far North District Trails Plan is provided on the FNDC website.