Travel motivators in regional cities: How do we get people active when it is so easy to drive? Trevor Budge, City of Greater Bendigo Strategy Manager

Travel motivators in regional cities Bendigo’s Active Living Census provided an amazing 17,500 responses. What do the results tell us about the aspirations of our residents and how to build a liveable regional city. Context Healthy Together Connecting Greater Bendigo – Integrated Transport and Land Use Strategy - ITLUS

17,437 completed surveys PURPOSE METHOD Active Living Census 2014 Purpose & Method PURPOSE To help prioritise allocation of council funding To better understand infrastructure needs To measure current physical activity, recreation and health behaviours and trends To enable evidence based planning and provision of services. METHOD Hard copy surveys sent to all 49,500 residential households. Online version also available. Promoted through an advertising campaign. The largest response to any survey ever conducted by CoGB Project funded through : Be Active Healthy Together Bendigo 17,437 completed surveys

SUBJECTIVE HEALTH RATING Active Living Census 2014 Summary Findings – Adults’ Health SUBJECTIVE HEALTH RATING 45.5% of Greater Bendigo adults rate their health as Excellent or Very Good HEALTH BEHAVIOURS 46.8% meet fruit dietary guidelines 9.5% meet vegetable dietary guidelines BARRIERS TO FRUIT & VEG CONSUMPTION: Personal preference 24.5% Time Poor 19.8% The guidelines 18.4% Cost 14.6% SELF-RATED HEALTH STATUS 45.5% of Greater Bendigo adults rate their health as Excellent or Very Good; 36.5% as Good and 18% as Fair or Poor. Younger residents generally report better health status than older residents. Self-rated health status has remained relatively stable among Greater Bendigo residents from 2008 to 2014, with levels of poor / fair health similar to the Victorian average. FRUIT GUIDELINES 46.8% meet fruit dietary guidelines. Females and older adults were most likely to meet fruit consumption guidelines Greater Bendigo residents’ levels of fruit consumption have increased since 2008, bringing Greater Bendigo into line with the Victorian average. VEG GUIDELINES 9.5% meet vegetable dietary guidelines. Females and older adults were more likely to meet vegetable guidelines. Greater Bendigo residents met vegetable consumption guidelines at very low rates, similar to other Victorians. SMOKING 12.8% smoking rate Males aged 18 to 49 and females aged 35 to 49 smoke at higher rates than other residents. A sharp decline in Greater Bendigo residents’ smoking rates has been observed between 2011 and 2014, bringing Greater Bendigo into line with other areas of Victoria, where smoking rates declined between 2008 and 2011. ALCOHOL 15.9% of adults report drinking at levels that put them at short-term risk of alcohol-related harm (drinking more than 4 drinks on one occasion), with Greater Bendigo males, especially those aged 18 to 49, most at risk. Comparisons with Victorian Population Health Survey data are not available. Different guidelines employed. HEALTH RISK BEHAVIOURS 12.8% smoking rate 15.9% of adults report drinking at levels that put them at short-term risk of alcohol-related harm

– Adults’ Physical Activity Active Living Census 2014 Summary Findings – Adults’ Physical Activity 46.6% exercise 4 or more times per week 58.3% are motivated to do more physical activity Barriers to participation: Most popular activities: Exercise comparisons not available – different questions used across surveys – explained in detail in the full report. Most popular activities – similar to other Victorians, but bushwalking is more popular in Greater Bendigo than Victoria or Australia – “City in the bush”. Weekly participants = the % of the population that participates once per week or more often Total participants = the % of the population that participates at least once per year. The graph is ranked according to weekly participation rates. Barriers to participation: Time Personal issues (i.e. poor health, feel embarrassed, low motivation) Cost Social support (i.e. no encouragement, no-one to go with) Awareness of what’s available Safety Facility access issues (2.1%) – very few people said access was a barrier – suggests we have facilities in the right places and easy to get into, available for use by the population.

Active Living Census 2014 Summary Findings – Facility usage Over 90% of residents had used at least one recreation facility during the previous 12 months Most residents are using at least one type of facility for exercise, sport or recreation. Facility usage (except usage of halls and community centres) is lower in rural areas than urban areas. GB population summary: Off-road tracks used by 64% of population Open Spaces used by 77.9% of population – most used type of facility Swimming Pools = 47.5% Indoor Sports / Leisure / Fitness centres = 34.7% Sports grounds / ovals / clubrooms = 50.7% School facilities after hours =16.5% Halls / community centres = 25.3% Not used any facilities = 8.1%

– Reasons for using… Open Spaces Off-road walking and cycling tracks Active Living Census 2014 Summary Findings – Facility usage Active Living Census 2014 Summary Findings – Reasons for using… Open Spaces Off-road walking and cycling tracks

– Improvements to open spaces Active Living Census 2014 Summary Findings – Improvements to open spaces The majority of respondents made no suggestions for improvement to open spaces. Those that did most often suggested:

Children are in good health. Active Living Census 2014 Summary Findings – Children Children are in good health. Eight-in-ten (80.3%) reported their health as ‘very good’ or ‘excellent’. Children are more likely than adults to report exercising 4 or more times per week. 57.8% children meet fruit consumption guidelines Compared with 46.8% adults 7.6% children meet veg consumption guidelines Compared with 9.5% adults Children use local facilities at higher rates than adults In addition to a children’s profile (includes data such as that displayed above), a seniors profile was developed, showing results specific to residents aged 70+.

FULL REPORT SELECTED FINDINGS FACTSHEETS Active Living Census 2014 Accessing the data FULL REPORT SELECTED FINDINGS FACTSHEETS Detailed report addressing all findings. Includes data tables and detailed analysis. Designed to be highly accessible. Findings collated according to age, location and activity type. Children and seniors Suburbs and towns The ALC data is being presented in a range of ways, designed to serve different audiences. The public and other interested parties can access the ALC findings on the COGB website and choose the format that best suits their needs. The following are available for download from the CoGB website: The full report - this contains full detail on the ALC findings, with significance testing and extensive tables of data. Great for those wanting all the details. The selected findings report - designed to be highly accessible, with the results collated into areas of interest (by age, suburb/town, and activity type) and displayed with graphs. Great for those who do not want to wade through heavy tables. factsheets (extracts from the selected findings document) - these provide a 1-page overview of ALC data specific to: children and seniors; towns and suburbs around Greater Bendigo; and the top 20 most popular physical recreation activities (participating once per year or more often). We also plan to undertake a series of presentations : within CoGB, with interested members of the health, business and sport/recreation communities, and in the broader Greater Bendigo community (i.e. at ward meetings). Top 20 most popular activities

ALC 2014 findings Long Gully Splash Park Heathcote Fitness Stations Canterbury Park Free bike parking at events Play in your park Connect with cooking Active Living Census 2014 Aligning inititiatives with the ALC 2014 findings The public are likely to ask how COGB are responding to the ALC findings. There are a number of current projects that align with the ALC findings – these were started before the ALC findings were released but show that CoGB has its finger on the pulse. CoGB will continue to align future projects with the ALC findings in this way. Examples include (photos in clockwise order): Long Gully Splash Park – A significantly higher than average proportion of Long Gully / West Bendigo / Ironbark residents reported cost as a barrier to participation in physical activity. The Long Gully Splash Park is free to access and contributes to overcoming this barrier. Play in your park – free physical activity sessions – held in areas where a lack of social support was a prominent barrier to physical activity and physical activity rates were generally low. Free Bike Parking at events and active travel forums for schools/kindergartens and workplaces – using active travel can overcome time as a barrier to physical activity. The provision of free, supervised bike parking also addresses barriers of cost and safety. Visible bike parking promotes a healthy culture of active travel. Connect with Cooking program – program teaching simple cooking skills. Venue locations partially based on ALC findings –in areas where fruit and veg consumption was lower than average. Heathcote Fitness Stations: Gym / fitness participation in Heathcote is significantly lower than the Greater Bendigo average. Facility access was more of a barrier in Heathcote compared to other areas. The Heathcote fitness stations address both barriers. Evaluation of the stations will further inform the roll out of similar stations in other areas of the municipality. Canterbury Park (no image) – AFL is a popular activity. Even though a high percentage of local footy is played in Eaglehawk, the AFL facilities in Eaglehawk were rated the 2nd worst quality facility, across all activities, in the municipality. Since May 2014 when the population completed the ALC, the Canterbury Park precinct, including the footy oval, has undergone redevelopment/upgrade. We expect future iterations of the ALC to show an improvement in facility quality ratings for AFL in Eaglehawk and possibly an increase in footy participation among Eaglehawk residents.

City of Greater Bendigo – 25% Public Land - Almost all Forest Unparalleled opportunity to meet the bushwalking demand.

Council report and adoption Media Launch Webpage goes live Active Living Census 2014 Next steps with the Census Council endorsement Council support ALC as the leading preventative health document within the organisation Council report and adoption Media Launch Webpage goes live Marketing campaign Engagement Council endorsement Council support ALC as the leading preventative health document within the organisation Council report and adoption Media Launch Webpage goes live Marketing campaign Engagement/Presentations Internal interested CoGB units External small town / ward meetings health agencies sporting groups / clubs businesses / other interested parties Additionally: CoGB will attempt to integrate the ALC into a number of its planning processes, including: Line in council report template Line in EMT report template Capital works prioritisation tool (already in use)

What is Connecting Greater Bendigo: ITLUS? Strategy that sets out the framework and direction for: an integrated approach to transport and land use planning through strong urban planning, focus on health, community engagement, targeted behaviour change; reducing our reliance on cars; making the best use possible of the available infrastructure, including road space, buses, walking and cycling and rail, to meet capacity demands; and being open to exploring opportunities to do things differently.

The vicious cycle of the ‘business as usual’ approach Continuing ‘business as usual’ in responding to increasing traffic and the growing need for housing: Does not reduce growth in traffic volumes Does not make economic sense Threatens the ‘country town’ and ‘city on the forest’ feel of Bendigo Does not tackle growing health issues We now know that cities that pursue business as usual never resolve their congestion, health, community and environmental problems

ITLUS at a glance

ITLUS at a glance

ITLUS at a glance

ITLUS is not about huge changes It’s about making small behaviour changes and doing things smarter. Traffic volumes are growing about 2% per annum. If 4% of all trips each year are done using walking, cycling or public transport we can progressively reduce the reliance on cars. 4% of trips for the average household represents about 3 trips per week CoGB, Bendigo Bank, La Trobe University and Bendigo Health leading by example - one day per week each employee will walk, cycle, car share or use public transport to get to work – that will take 1,000 cars off the road each day. The cumulative impacts of relatively small changes will be profound

Greater Bendigo’s percentage of overweight or obese persons is the highest in the state

Strengthening Partnerships Local schools TAFE

Key directions shaping the final strategy ITLUS proposed to be built on 6 principles – total package The transformative impact of a targeted series of small incremental steps Targeted improvements to the road, walking, cycling, bus network, railway stations, activity centres and school travel Partnerships – major employers/schools – as travel behaviour change agents – include link with health benefits Focus on the health/wellbeing benefits of individual and family/household changes to healthy active travel modes Integration of transport and land use ‘10 minute neighbourhoods’, development around activity centres including train stations, bus route hubs and corridors We can’t ‘solve’ “traffic congestion” by always building/widening roads - shift to better use of our total

Embracing transformative change Stepping away from the “business as usual” model Greater Bendigo Residential Strategy steps away from “business as usual” model of land use and development Commits to applying the UGB to prevent ongoing urban sprawl. City centre residential development and urban infill New housing options – 55% of households one and two persons ITLUS to set out the realities of ‘induced demand - generated traffic’ Commit to redirecting investment away from cyclical/continuous road capacity improvements to into maximising the efficient use of the existing infrastructure and implementing the findings of the ALC. “business as usual” model over last 50 years has been built on and has always assumed a level of funding that we never have had and will never have

Historic and projected growth of volumes 1970-2030

Making the most of what we have “The strategy for the future is based on utilising the existing road network” Bendigo 2020 Transportation Study (1993) The strategic approach to network improvements outlined by the 1993 strategy is still sound; The 2015 difference is Seeing the capacity of the whole transport network – bus, rail, walking, cycling, car pool, Seeing the benefits of shifts in mode – health / community Integrating transport and land use planning – new development and retrofitting

Watch this space for the progressive release of all this information www.bendigo.vic.gov.au t.budge@bendigo.vic.gov.au