The Kielder Water & Forest Park Development Trust is a collaboration between public, private, and third sector organizations working to develop England's largest forest and reservoir into an internationally renowned outdoor recreation destination. The Trust aims to improve economic, social, and environmental sustainability in the area by providing public facilities, educating about the natural environment, advancing the arts, and working with local communities. Its members include water, forestry, and local government agencies, and it partners with various community and regional organizations. The Trust has been actively working on leisure and recreation in the area since 1994 according to its 25-year business plan to deliver its vision of establishing Kielder Water & Forest Park as a top destination.

1. Kielder Water & Forest Park
Development Trust
Key Information
 Kielder Water & Forest Park Development Trust - the private, public and third sector collaboration
working to develop England’s largest Forest and reservoir as an internationally renowned outdoor
activity destination.
 Through this focus, the Trust works to improve economic, social and environmental sustainability,
provide public recreation and leisure facilities, educate in all aspects of the natural environment and
advance the arts. It works with the range of communities to benefit from these activities.
 Members of the Trust are Northumbrian Water, Forestry Commission, Northumberland County Council
and Calvert Trust Kielder. In order to achieve its objectives, the Trust has regular contact with a
number of affiliate organisations from local community groups such as water sports clubs to regional
agencies including the Environment Agency and Arts Council. We have been activity working on
leisure and recreation together since 1994.
 Kielder Big Picture is the destination vision for Kielder Water & Forest Park (KWFP) and in 2009 the
25 year KWFP Investment Plan (JDD Consultants) was adopted as the business plan to deliver the
destination. It contains strong evidence for destination positioning and target markets and utilises the
unlimited potential of the natural strengths, scale, size and flexibility of the 600km² park to provide the
main market opportunities.
 Ambitions 2019 – Vision Inspiring Place….Inspiring People
 Total Investment £25m  Visitor Spend £42m pa (direct and indirect)
 1 million visitor days pa  600K activity sessions pa (incl ‘no book, no pay’)
 200K bed nights in or very near to KWFP  Plus 165K bed nights in Northumberland
 750 jobs delivered  40 new businesses in the local area
 2013 Impacts - using the 2006 economic impact study (Source: Genecon & Locum Consulting. 2006) as a
baseline, the Trust established the following impact:
 295, 000 visitors -  Visitor Spend £18.4pa - (direct and indirect)
 368, 715 visitor days pa -
 107K bed nights in / verynear to KWFP  Plus 74K bed nights in Northumberland
 471 jobs delivered -  500 events pa
 2012 /13 Tourism Awards winning criteria – in January 2013 we were award the Gold award for best
visitor experience in the North East. In April we were shortlisted for the national tourism awards 2013.
Key criteria were:
 Kielder Observatory– opened in 2008
doubled the number of sessions to 200
events pa, 7600 visitors. Projections of 30%
moving forward
 Authentic visitor experience with access to
experts.
 Customer Service – offering personal and
localised experience.
 Target Markets – clear target markets and
imaginative marketing campaigns
 Staff Training – regularly updated
 Accessibility – great partnership with
Calvert Trust ensuring great access for the
11% disabled visitors pa.
 Business and Community relations – working
closely with local businesses and the community
to provide the best visitor experience.
 Sustainability – a key agenda