Walking in Blacktown

Type of project

Local Government Initiative

State

New South Wales

Location

Urban

Blacktown City is in Western Sydney, located between the ‘Western Parkland City’ and the ‘Central River City’. Blacktown is one of the fastest growing local government areas in Australia, and offers a mix of residential, retail, commercial and industrial land uses.
The rates of chronic diseases, such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease, are much higher in Blacktown, compared to the New South Wales (NSW) average. Blacktown also has very low walking rates, compared to Greater Metropolitan Sydney.

Healthy foot forward

In 2015, Blacktown City Council and Western Sydney Local Health District formed a special partnership to design and implement a range of strategies to improve the walking rates and the health of the community in Blacktown.
Walking in Blacktown City: Timbertop Reserve
A key first step for the partnership was to map out the major factors influencing walking rates in Blacktown. Within each factor, a list of activities being undertaken across Blacktown was documented and each was aligned to an organisation, based on their ownership of the activity. 

Activities undertaken by the partnership include:

• The development and implementation of checklists for Council to ensure walkability is considered in the planning and design of built environments;
• Conducting environmental audits, using the Heart Foundation’s Neighbourhood Walkability Checklist and identifying improvements needed;
• Research into amenities and infrastructure to support walking such as, public toilets and water refill stations;
• The promotion of walking events; and
• Creating resources and communications, with ideas for places to walk and details of local walking groups, to encourage residents to increase their walking.

An evidence-based approach informed the partnership. Insight was gathered from community surveys, environmental audits, peer-reviewed research and NSW state-level policy and guidance documents. The Healthy Active by Design framework was also used to inform elements linked to walkability, such as building design, safe and convenient movement within neighbourhoods and a sense of community.
The project has continued to evolve since it commenced in 2015. The partnership priorities are agreed at bi-annual executive meetings and activities requiring collaboration are progressed by working groups. Activities relating to the core business of each organisation are progressed internally, and consultation occurs when required. Progress of activities that relate to the partnership priorities are reported at executive meetings of the partnership.
The purpose of the executive meetings is to guide the direction of the partnership, track progress and provide an opportunity for information exchange and discussion on mutually relevant topics. It is typically attended by the Chief Executive Officer of Blacktown City Council, the General Manager of Blacktown Mount Druitt Hospitals and the General Manager, Integrated and Community Health, from Western Sydney Local Health District. Representatives from the Council’s City Living, Environment, Community, and Recreation Planning and Design Teams, and the Western Sydney Local Health District Centre for Population Health and Western Sydney Diabetes Program also attend.

Working groups have been established to address key areas of action, including walking data, healthy design of major projects, design of shared use paths and the promotion of walking. Each working group is currently active and has unique, mutually agreed deliverables, timelines and actions. These groups report to the executive meeting of the partnership.
The Western Sydney Diabetes Program is not a working group of the partnership, as their program scope extends beyond Blacktown. However, the Program was invited to join the Executive Group in 2017 to assist in the communication of, and collaboration on, activities within Blacktown. The Western Sydney Diabetes Program, in collaboration with Council, has established general practice walking groups and actively promotes opportunities to be active in Western Sydney.

Rates of walking in Blacktown are reviewed by the Western Sydney Local Health District every three years ,using pooled data from the Transport for NSW Household Travel Survey. In addition, changes to the local environment to support walking are also monitored. Each working group has its own evaluation measures to determine the effectiveness of its actions and the key impacts of the work. These are assessed by analysing distribution records, audit reports, community surveys and case-studies.
Key lessons learned from this project include:

• Influencing population rates of walking is complex with many inter-related factors.
• To see sizeable improvements in population rates of walking, as part of everyday living, the provision of large-scale transport infrastructure projects would be required.
• A lack of safety, actual or perceived, is a barrier to increasing walking rates. In some cases, actions designed to improve safety, or deter antisocial behaviour can contribute to perceptions that safety is an issue. For example:
• Locked toilets can contribute to the perception that an area is unsafe. Toilets are also a known barrier/enabler to participation in walking, as access to them can influence the journeys of walkers.
• Many parks and reserves have no, or limited, lighting to deter antisocial use after dark. However, poor lighting is a barrier to physical activity, particularly for those with long commutes, for whom being active after dark is the only option.
• Strategies to promote walking require working with professionals from a range of Council departments. Executive endorsement of the strategy can encourage cross departmental collaboration towards achieving project objectives.
• Stakeholders may have different and competing priorities. For example, the plantation of large shade trees along the road network provides shade protection, air temperature reduction, urban heat reduction and increases walkability. However, there are often restrictions on the planting of large shade trees along the road network to protect drivers from injury. A wholistic view is needed to ensure that environments are designed for people first.

Project team

• Blacktown City Council
• Western Sydney Local Health District

Project Cost

Ongoing