On Monday night, Horsham Rural City Council voted to put its Draft Municipal Open Space Strategy on public exhibition for a month.

The strategy will help Council make long-term plans for the municipality's parks, playgrounds, bushland, paths, waterways, sporting facilities and civic spaces.

Aside from Hunts Road, the strategy also suggests a shared trail connecting Golf Course Rd to the trail adjacent to Haven Primary School and Haven Recreation reserve.

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Mrs Exell said growing enrolments at the school meant these changes should be a high priority of council's.

"There are many young families and we've got new homes going up everywhere, and we need to keep kids walking and riding safe," she said.

"In 2009, there were 54 children at the school when it was built, and now we're up to 125 students, so it's really going ahead. The education department will also need to be part of the Horsham South Strategy which is opening later this year as well, so we get a really good look at the big picture for Haven."

Mrs Exell said many children rode their bikes down Hunts Road, which had no foot or cycling paths though it connected with the Henty Highway.

Sport Business Partners prepared the open space strategy, which makes recommendations for each community in the region including Pimpinio, Wartook, Dadswells Bridge and Drung.

The firm said it received 251 responses during consultations between November and May, one of the highest response rates council has had from the community. It said it received feedback including the need for more open space in north Horsham, indigenous storytelling and tree canopies across the city.

Mayor Mark Radford said the strategy would be used in a range of future planning situations.

"If a developer comes to us and says they want to develop an estate, this strategy will inform how much land they need to set aside for open space, for example" he said.

"It's a guide we've never had before, and there have been examples in the past where we wish we did."

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