Wellington is blessed with a 425-hectare reserve that encircles the city and includes parks and walkways. Among those are a network of trails built by various volunteer organisations.
They’ve now come under one umbrella, Trails Wellington, focused on maintaining and developing more trails.
More than 2000 Wellington walkers, runners and mountain bikers have signed up to a new app, supporting the volunteer network.
Wellington chair Anthony Edmonds told Kathryn Ryan it was rare to encounter conflict from other users of trails, as a mountain-biker, dog walker and runner himself.
"A good example with how we dealt with all the different user groups was Polhill recently, where we built a new trail with the blessing of the council, to keep the downhill bikes off what had been a two-way trail.
"It's certainly made it a far more enjoyable experience for people using that area, because you've got a great trail that's uphill biking, equally used by lot of runners and walkers, and then you've got a separate trail which people descend or ride down, so it keeps that separation between the two user groups."
Volunteer-based groups for trails, like Mākara Peak supporters and Brooklyn Trail Builders, have spent years discussing co-ordination before coming together under this umbrella, Edmonds says.
"There's a huge amount of work that's been put in historically and currently by a big army of volunteers across the city and across the region.
"We're focused on the big issues that run across all of those groups. Within that though, each of the coalition partners ... have their own focus and purpose and we really leave them to run independently from us as a group, because it's important they can get on and do what's right for their area.
"So we come together to work on common issues, they all have trustee representation on the Trust."
Joining the app provides people with membership to the group, which costs $30, and includes affiliation with the associated partners and discounts at some retailers and eateries.
Forming this coalition helps in sharing their voice as a collective to the council, Edmonds says, including to resolve problems like riders who drive to the hilltops before riding down.
"Because there's no dedicated area to do that around the city, we do see that illegal activity come into play. We're engaged with the council, saying 'look the solution to that issue is find a dedicated area we can use to shuttle around the city'.
"We've got a few spots we're discussing with the council and we think that will take the pressure off that illegal activity.
"It's fair to say that sort of illegal trail activity is very much at the fringe and at the margin, I don't want it to take away from the massive work and incredible network we've got in and around the city."
They're also working to address the gaps in trails built by volunteers to an intermediate or advanced level, he says.
"We've got gaps around entry level family-friendly trails plus also some of those more extreme trails as well, so the work we're doing with the council is focused on addressing those trail network gaps to make it more accessible for all."
And because most of these places are community assets, it was natural to see different stakeholders wanting to have a say in how they are used, he says. But they're also seeing synergy between users in their goals.
"Te Kopahou is a fantastic example of that at the moment ... We're really keen to see that area, remaining accessible to the people of Wellington through having trails in there.
"There already is extensive trail network in there, largely old four-wheel drive tracks. We think there's fantastic opportunity for the city to put trails in there that can be used by walkers, runners, and riders. We think ... the overall impact on the environment of those trails is less than minor.
"At the same time, it provides access for people like predator-free groups to get in there and trap and eradicate pests out of that area."
