Page 3461 - Week 10 - Thursday, 20 October 2022
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the Stromlo Park Masterplan, implementing recommendations from the ‘Mountain Biking ACT report’ and building a flow trail from Stromlo Forest Park to Cotter”;
(2) further notes that:
(a) some regular users of Stromlo Forest Park do not feel they are adequately and directly consulted with on changes proposed at the park; and
(b) investment in mountain biking facilities at Stromlo Forest Park is no longer keeping up with regional mountain biking competitors and the needs of a rapidly growing sport; and
(3) calls on the ACT Government to:
(a) continue works towards the delivery of the $1.2m Stromlo to Cotter flow trail and the $700,000 priority Canberra Mountain Biking Report recommendations, as per the Parliamentary and Governing Agreement (Appendix 4, item 6.2);
(b) establish a single point of contact for mountain biking within ACT Government where mountain bikers can seek information on the ACT Government’s work on mountain biking;
(c) improve processes for further consultation with a wider range of mountain bikers and regular Stromlo Forest Park users on proposed changes at the park, including further consultation with a wider range of users on the $2.88 million carpark and event space proposal;
(d) consider further tourism opportunities associated with investment in mountain biking facilities at Stromlo Forest Park and across the ACT; and
(e) update the Assembly on the implementation of the Stromlo Forest Park masterplan and the progress of this motion by the last sitting week in June 2023.
I have been speaking to mountain bikers since I started in this position. I am pretty new to the sport, actually, but I am really familiar with outdoor sports and with cycling, so I have a bit of an understanding of this community and what they need, and a whole lot of appreciation for it. It has also been nice to jump into mountain biking and see a lot of familiar faces that I have seen in other walks.
I have had a great time. I have been out building berms with Friends of Bruce Ridge. I have been at Stromlo a couple of times with a few old hands who showed me around. I have to say that we have a great facility out there. There is music, there are skills courses, there are women’s courses and kids’ courses. There are a whole lot of people individually enjoying their sport. There are families; there is food. It is really fun. They have shuttle bus runs now. There are so many different ways that you can enjoy that spot.
The biggest need out there is more trails and better maintenance. That is probably the most consistent single thing that all of the people who are familiar with Stromlo and familiar with mountain biking are saying in Canberra at the moment. I know that a contract in 2021 for trails maintenance in Stromlo only provided $242,000 across two years. That is not a whole lot of maintenance money for such a large site. It is kind of like one person with a ute and a shovel.
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