This is Canning: City app-eals for public to get outside

THE CITY of Canning have officially launched their own app to entice people off their sofas and into Canning’s great outdoors.

This is Canning is available on the App Store and Google Play and highlights local play spaces, Aboriginal culture and walking trails.

The app also contains interesting titbits about as Canning’s history and heritage and even teaches users basic Noongar words.

Deputy mayor Christine Cunningham said while other councils had apps focused on tourism and marketing strategies, a focus on history and heritage was at the forefront of This is Canning.

“The City’s focus on Aboriginal (Noongar) language is a local government first and is even more significant given the City’s reconciliation journey and United Nations declared 2019 The Year of Indigenous Languages,” she said.

Cr Cunningham said success of the application would be multi faceted.

“The number of apps downloaded is definitely an evaluation mechanism, but on a broader level we will also be looking at decreases in obesity, increases in physical activity, increases in the use of play spaces and general awareness of what Canning has to offer.”

She said 34% of Canning residents aged over 16 years do less than 150 minutes of physical activity per week and 35.7% are inactive for more than 21 hours per week.

Bentley grandfather Robin Forrester said he believed the app was a great way to encourage kids to embrace technology in an educational manner and get some exercise at the same time.

“I see so many children, my grandsons included, who are drawn to screens these days, and it’s a real struggle for parents and caregivers to pry them away and entice them with old school activities such as playing down the river, building cubbies or even just going for a bike ride or having a conversation,” he said.

The app cost $17,740 to create, with a $5000 annual fee to consistently update it, with events and fitness tracking among other features being considered as additions in the future.