This Tuesday, May 12th the “Healthy Development” group will be holding their meeting at the Turner Valley Golf Club at 7:00 pm.
This group have recently been on two walks to explore the possible routes for a looping of the Friendship Trail. The first of those was from the golf clubhouse down to the river and upstream to the site of the suspension bridge across from the gas plant. The second walk started at the Arena in Black Diamond and followed the sewer main up to the Golf Club and then back again.
This Tuesday’s meeting will focus the conversation on how they might move forward with this suggestion. Some ideas to entertain for discussion are:
The three main entities that would be involved in the looping of the Friendship Trail are the towns of Turner Valley and Black Diamond and the Turner Valley Golf Club (TVGC). John Waring, who is a Councillor in Turner Valley, joined the group on their first walk, and his ideas for moving things forward included seeking agreements in principle from the two towns and the Golf Club.
John also suggested that putting in portions of the loop with simple trails, e.g. constructed with wood chips, would be one way to move forward.
Another idea would be to create a “Friends of the Friendship Trail” organization that could begin garnering support for the loop. Such an organization could be useful in soliciting both corporate and citizen support.
The benefits of walking trails are so numerous and diverse that simply cataloguing them and having a way of keeping them in view would be useful. A number of the benefits are health related. Attached is a link to a recent article in Alberta Health Services magazine, Apple, that speaks to those benefits in some depth.
“The Apple Guide to Walking”
http://www.applemag-digital.com/applemag/fall_2104#pg41