Josephine Elworthy secures outdoor access champion award for Clevedon trails

With her Clevedon Trails Steering Group colleagues, Josephine Elworthy has worked toward a trails network in Clevedon for over a decade. In recognition of her achievements, Herenga ā Nuku Aotearoa, the Outdoor Access Commission has presented her with an Outdoor Access Champion award.

Elworthy and other committed community members have worked with Auckland Council since 2010 to get trails included in the Structure Plan for the area so that trails are included as land is developed. The trails are now being built piece by piece. The group is working with Herenga ā Nuku Aotearoa to ensure public access and connectivity in this rapidly changing and growing semi-rural community.

Outdoor Access Commission Chief Executive Ric Cullinane says Elworthy absolutely deserves the award because of her long involvement in nurturing a walkable Clevedon.

"The way she and the Clevedon Trails Steering Group have gone about their work is very clever and with an eye to a longer-term objective - recognising that their village is growing and building in requirements for connectivity and access to meet current and future community needs."

Elworthy has collected a team of willing and able locals to shape public access to serve people’s needs and preserve the village feel of Clevedon.

All the while, the Clevedon Trails group she co-founded has been working with Auckland Council to see that the community’s needs and aspirations are supported through planning decisions. These days the group is a trusted community partner, with a council contract to promote the Hunua Traverse - a new local e-bike tourist trail.

As a landowner, Elworthy leads by example, with the public use of several widened Hololio roadside verges already established on her land and awaiting new walkway easements.

Elworthy says trails need to be well designed so that they add to the amenity of the area, and to the quality of life of their neighbours and advises "don't leave them till the last minute and try to overlay them into a subdivision. To be good, they need to be designed in from the start, and so the residential development wraps around them."

The vision of the group is to have safe, off-road access for every Clevedon child, to the school and the showgrounds at a minimum.

Elworthy adds "we also aspire to open up access to and knowledge of the Wairoa river, and our history, including Nga Tai ki Tamaki history. We have a vision of connections from our village trails network to other communities via the Hunua Trail, Te Araroa, and other proposed tracks and trails."

Images. Credit: Clint Shubert IntoPix