Top of the South Regional Physical Activity Strategy 2006-2016
Executive Summary
The development of a Regional Physical Activity Strategy for the Top of the South Island commenced in September 2003 when SPARC agreed that seed funding should be provided for this purpose.
The Trust was able to gain sufficient support from the five Territorial Authorities located across the Top of the South Island and from key partners to embark on such an exercise.
As part of the agreement to provide funding for the development of the Strategy, SPARC required that the five Territorial Authorities sign an accord to agree to support the development of a strategy. This agreement was reached in November 2003.
Once the five Territorial Authorities had signed an accord and funding was made available, a Taskforce Steering Committee comprising two representatives from each of the five Territorial Authorities was appointed with Neville Male, Chief Executive of the Tasman Regional Sports Trust being appointed Chairperson.
Under the umbrella of the Taskforce Steering Group Committee, district workshops were set up in all five regions and Task Groups appointed to consider findings and recommendations resulting from the workshops.
The Strategy was developed in a very positive environment and most of those in the community asked to take part with an interest in a sector of their choice did so very willingly. The format for development of the Strategy identified nine distinct sectors where physical activity in its broadest sense took place.
One of the major highlights arising from the development of the Strategy has been that the five Territorial Authorities have used the exercise to identify issues for development of district plans.
Subsequent to the development of the Regional Physical Activty Strategy each Territorial Authority was charged with developing a district plan to under pin the regional Strategy.
Strategy Vision
The Strategy has been developed to advance the uptake and define the role of physical activity in the lives of people living in the Top of the South Region. The vision for the Strategy is:
More people, more active, more often - life long in the Top of the South region
Strategy Objective
The Strategy presents a set of regional initiatives aimed at increasing activity uptake within the Top of the South administrative area. The objective of the Strategy is to achieve:
An average 1 percent annual increase in the Top of the South population who are sufficiently physically active for health and lifestyle benefits.
Progress against this objective will be measured by the Sport and Recreation New Zealand national physical activity monitor survey and supplemented by residents' surveys undertaken by the five partner Councils.
Strategy Outcomes
The overarching outcome is:
A healthier population in the Top of the South enjoyed through active lifestyles.
The strategy has eleven underlying outcomes. The outcomes, areas of focus and reference to goals and actions are listed in the table below:
| Outcome | Area of focus |
| Inclusive physical activity opportunities available in the whole community | Inclusiveness and Access |
| Effective funding of physical activity | Funding Systems |
| Effective local planning and leadership for physical activity uptake | Physical Activity Planning by Local Government |
| Healthy, active communities physical activity | Health System and Physical Activity |
| Activity friendly open space for active outdoor recreation and daily life | Open Space and Outdoor Recreation |
| Active lifestyles fostered in education | Education System and Physical Activity |
| Active transport options supported in the Top of the South | Active Transport (walking and cycling for transport) |
| Effective delivery of sport | Sport Systems |
| Physical activity friendly workplaces | Workplaces and Physical Activity |
| Growing physical activity uptake through collaboration by health fitness studios | Commercial Health and Fitness Industry |
| A collaborative approach to physical activity at the regional level | Regional Collaboration |