Dear Subscriber,

PCAL wishes you a merry christmas and a happy and healthy new year.

This bulletin reports up to date news and research of interest to people who want to promote active living choices in NSW.

Previous bulletins are archived on the PCAL website.

PCAL does not endorse or recommend any commercial products, processes or services that may be displayed through bulletin hyperlinks.

Creating Places for People: an urban design protocol for Australian cities has recently been released. A complimentary urban design website has also been created which includes State and Territory fact sheets with examples of State based urban design guides and handbooks.

An Issues Paper relating to the current review of the NSW Planning System has been released and includes a proposed objective that developments should foster healthy living such as walkability and access to public transport. Comments close Friday 17th February.

The City of Sydney is offering free bike racks for local public schools to encourage more students to ride to school. The Council has set aside $20,000 a year from the bike parking budget towards the initiative. 

The Western Australian government has released guidelines on current standards and best practice for the planning and design of pedestrian facilities as well as a walkability audit tool.

The 2011 Walk 21 Conference - Transforming the Automobile City papers and videos are now available. Presentations ranged from the measurement of walkability to geospacial tools to prioritise infrastructure investments.

Every Body Walk is an online North American walking campaign with a new free app available, to allow users to personalise walking plans and discover local walking groups and walking paths.

An award winning UK inventor has developed an energy - harvesting floor tile that converts pedestrian effort to electricity. When fitted in heavily pedestrianised areas it can power street lights and bus shelters and will be installed in areas surrounding the 2012 Olympic site.

If you haven't already used it, Go Play is a school holiday diary featuring hundreds of sport, recreational, art and cultural activities available in NSW for kids of all ages. There's also a free ipod app available to download to alert you when new activities have been added.

PCAL would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a very merry christmas and a happy active new year.