Bideford People How Do You Use the Tarka Trail?

How do you use the Tarka Trail Bideford People?

1.  

   Bideford AAC 10K Race on the Tarka Trail in North Devon

 

Devon County Council through the Northern Devon Coast and Countryside

Service and local Public Rights of Way teams is  running a

survey to discover more about how and why people are using the Tarka

Trail.

The survey covers not only the shared use ‘off road cycling section’ between

Braunton and Meeth but also the more remote footpath sections that

follow the journey of Henry Williamson’s Tarka the Otter through

northern Devon.

The Tarka Trail was opened by Prince Charles in May

1992. Since that time it has been used by countless people; the curious

and the commuter, locals and visitors, the walker, the cyclist and on

limited sections, the horse rider.  All Tarka Trail users are able to explore the wonderful environment

of northern Devon through North Devon’s UNESCO

Biosphere Reserve and North Devon Coast Areas of Outstanding Natural

Beauty. 

Devon County Council want to know how well you think the Tarka Trail is managed and what sort of an experience is it.

Matt Edworthy from the Northern Devon Coast and Countryside Service is

keen to receive as much user feedback as possible. “Managing the Tarka

Trail is not as straight forward as you might think. In some places it

is part of a network of National Cycle routes, in other parts it is

footpath useable only by walkers. Some places are heavily used,

especially in the holiday season, others are more remote and perhaps

most used for a walk with the dog after Sunday lunch. It has a valuable

role as a wildlife corridor but was also shown in 2006 to contribute

over £7million to the local economy. Getting the balance right is

challenging and your feedback will help us do that”.

You can fill out

the survey on line at https://www.devon.gov.uk/index/tarka-trail-questionnaire.htm and look out for printed versions at various locations along the entire the 180 mile figure of eight route.

The deadline for Survey responses is 10th September.

For more information about the survey contact Matt Edworthy at the

Northern Devon AONB and Biosphere Service in Bideford. Matt Edworthy:

Tel 01237 423655 / 07815 162159 Email: matt.edworthy@devon.gov.uk