Park and Walk council grants

Victoria Walks has provided grants to three councils for Park & Walk works and activities that will enable kids to walk part of the way to school.

The pilot program, administered by Victoria Walks, was funded by VicHealth after their research confirmed that children living more than 2km away were most unlikely to walk to school.

Local councils were able to apply for grants and we received 34 applications, demonstrating the strong need for funding of pedestrian infrastructure. Many schools do not have a footpath to the school gate, making it very difficult for students to participate even in programs like Walk to School, let alone walk to school on a regular basis.

The grants will provide footpaths or shared paths connecting primary schools to car parking areas 500-1,000 metres away, for: 

• Bass Valley Primary School in the Bass Coast Shire.   
• Bayles Regional Primary School in Cardinia Shire.
• Holy Cross Catholic Primary and Gisborne Montessori School in the Macedon Ranges Shire.

Victoria Walks and the councils involved will be undertaking before and after evaluation of the projects to assess the potential for Park & Walk initiatives to get kids walking part way to school.  The results of evaluation are expected to be available mid-2016.

Useful links

Check out: 

• Media release for more information on both the VicHealth research and the Park & Walk projects.
• Case studies on existing park and walks programs.