chips_with_everything
Likes Dirt
I wasn't too disappointed, OK so MTBA didn't submit for some reason but on the other hand Bicycle New South Wales did.
That BNSW submission is good, because they have a large membership and put up a good case about the need for people to be able to access parks by bicycle. It's in mind as an alternative to driving there. And once there by bike there's an implication that the visitor stays with her/his bike. So visit opportunities must be inclusive of people with bikes.
Furthermore the image of 'cycling', as in the BNSW membership and families getting into parks and pottering along is much more yesable for access than is the image of MTBers tearing around the place scaring the poop out of bushwalkers.
Really the weirdo single track prohibition of cycling DECC have in their policy (i.e. no riding unless signed to permit cycling) is more about the perception that walkers might be skittled than anything else. It is at least welcome that DECC have adopted the terminology 'multi-use trails' and I can see more trails being opened up for cycling so long as the expectation is that they'll be used in a gentle way for visits and touring rather than race speed activity.
So it's not all bad.
Now as a parallel thought I enjoyed the "Mountain" show on the ABC which featured the 'right to roam' campaign. This original disobedience early in the last century and lobbying took decades to get Govt to finally pass law making access a right. But it did achieve the desired outcome.
I wonder if a similar approach might be possible in Aussie for the purpose of cementing access rights for all low-impact self-reliant recreation, with proper constraints to encourage and ensure civilised behaviour.
That BNSW submission is good, because they have a large membership and put up a good case about the need for people to be able to access parks by bicycle. It's in mind as an alternative to driving there. And once there by bike there's an implication that the visitor stays with her/his bike. So visit opportunities must be inclusive of people with bikes.
Furthermore the image of 'cycling', as in the BNSW membership and families getting into parks and pottering along is much more yesable for access than is the image of MTBers tearing around the place scaring the poop out of bushwalkers.
Really the weirdo single track prohibition of cycling DECC have in their policy (i.e. no riding unless signed to permit cycling) is more about the perception that walkers might be skittled than anything else. It is at least welcome that DECC have adopted the terminology 'multi-use trails' and I can see more trails being opened up for cycling so long as the expectation is that they'll be used in a gentle way for visits and touring rather than race speed activity.
So it's not all bad.
Now as a parallel thought I enjoyed the "Mountain" show on the ABC which featured the 'right to roam' campaign. This original disobedience early in the last century and lobbying took decades to get Govt to finally pass law making access a right. But it did achieve the desired outcome.
I wonder if a similar approach might be possible in Aussie for the purpose of cementing access rights for all low-impact self-reliant recreation, with proper constraints to encourage and ensure civilised behaviour.