Independent Reviews

The Ask

Repucon Consulting were commissioned to undertake an independent review of the current mountain bike trails in Newry, Mourne and Down.  The client Newry, Mourne and Down Co. Council  currently operate a number of trail facilities and wanted to benchmark the existing trails provision versus international standards while assessing the current quality of trails.

The Approach

Repucon Consulting partnered with international trails experts Back on Track to undertake an assessment of the current trails in the context of the various user groups.  The process involved a programme of consultation with trail users with a focus on Rostrevor (Kilbroney) and Castlewellan Trails.  A series of “Town Hall” meetings were hosted to facilitate mountain bike trail users to contribute to the process.  A wider user group survey was undertaken to establish the key issues from the perspective of the mountain bike trail users in both sites.  A technical assessment was undertaken by Back on Track of the two trail centres.

The Outcome

The review provided Newry, Mourne and Down Co. Council with a series of recommendations in relation to the future development and operation of the two trail centres.  In addition to the independent analysis, a new user segmentation model was developed.  This ensured an understanding of the core user groups and applying fit for purpose analysis of the current trails.  The review proposed a range of operational considerations, trails development, investment options while addressing a number of issues such as marketing and promotion to increase usage levels on the trails.