Tasmania - the secrets unlocked...

nathanm

Eats Squid
I'm excited. Finally the missing link from Junction Cabin to Tip Top and Upper Upper Luge being formalized are the highlights for me
If you have a read through the plan you'll see some significant dates, being 2005 when this all started and 2011 when the Masterplan was put in place. I was part of this so called master plan working (or someother wanky name) group, along with about 20-30 other riders and pretty much it's been ticking over for the last decade without much actually happening.

Another significant number is $400k which has been allocated for the first stage. Given that $1.3 million was spent on North South tracks 12 kilometres and much of that was built with free Green Corp's labour I can't see much getting done, particularly as Dirt Art "World Leaders in Trails" (self-proclaimed I'd suggest) is proposing almost all new trails running alongside existing routes and to even re-route part of North South to make it MTB only.

Knowing the way councils work $400k will get us probably a dozen signs and maybe 1 new trail 3 or 4k long. Access itself is an issue as unlike most other bike parks you can't just drive in and build, many resources will need to be helicoptered in. It'll have to be hand cut as well I'd imagine and if World Trail aren't building it then why bother?

i hate to take a giant crap on what seems like exciting news but you also have to contend with walkers and local residents who managed to stop the cable car being built and they will do everything they can to stop anything getting built that they can't use on the mountain and have been very succesful and doing so, so far.
 

rangersac

Medically diagnosed OMS
i hate to take a giant crap on what seems like exciting news but you also have to contend with walkers and local residents who managed to stop the cable car being built and they will do everything they can to stop anything getting built that they can't use on the mountain and have been very succesful and doing so, so far.
Yep, I'm under no illusions that it will take a long time, but these sort of plans make it easier to access funding. Case in point, the original Greater Hobart area master plan was used by my riding group to leverage funding out of Kingborough Council for signage at Coningham. It's also a smart play with regard to the residents to have the trails following existing routes, as there'll be less opposition.
 

nathanm

Eats Squid
A nice house in Hobart :) West Hobart/lenah/mt stuart preferred, but we are realistic about prices there and are looking for the right house over the right suburb.
no worries, not what we're selling then unfortunately. We're seeing a slight increase of properties on the market with more expected to come. House prices and sales on the higher end properties $600k plus is stagnating so should be a good time to buy soon.
 

Ackland

chats d'élevage
400k is not going to get much... prob already spent on the planning/feasibility stage.
In the slim chance that the whole allocation goes solely to the trail construction contract, this buys approx*:
5km at World trail rates
7km at Dirt Art rates
8-12km various others

*Doesn't include mobilisation or allowances
 

nathanm

Eats Squid
In the slim chance that the whole allocation goes solely to the trail construction contract, this buys approx*:
5km at World trail rates
7 metres at Dirt Art rates
8-12km various others

*Doesn't include mobilisation or allowances
Fixed it for you.

Interesting chat on the Tas MTB facebook page today, with a comment from what appears to be someone closely linked with the plan, that the $400k is not sufficient to complete all 5, stage 1 trails as planned.

So Yeah, don't plan a riding trip for Hobart anytime soon, or really anytime in the next decade considering they will be relying on Federal grants for completion of stage 1, and even consideration of stage 2 & 3, given the Government will be in absolutely no economic position to provide money.

I really cant see this project seeing any real movement in my riding lifetime. Another top job by Tasmanian councils.
 

pink poodle

気が狂っている男
Crazy idea but...could there not be any scope for local clubs to provide planning in collaboration with the relevant authorities and organise volunteer labour to construct so.e of these trails? If it is a council collaboration, they would even have access to plenty of paid labour and equipment that could really get the project rolling while clubs should have some idea about trail planning/management.
 

rangersac

Medically diagnosed OMS
Seriously all that is really needed for Stage 1 is a climbing/ two way route from Main Fire Trail to Junction Cabin. With that track built, and with the new missing link/ drops tracks there's a realistic loop starting from either the Springs, Fern Tree or the Silos. 400K should cover that track.

@pink poodle, Hobart City Council has a good volunteer trail building programme
 

nathanm

Eats Squid
Crazy idea but...could there not be any scope for local clubs to provide planning in collaboration with the relevant authorities and organise volunteer labour to construct so.e of these trails? If it is a council collaboration, they would even have access to plenty of paid labour and equipment that could really get the project rolling while clubs should have some idea about trail planning/management.
The 1 local club struggles to run events and get enough people to even form a committee and the owner of Dirt Art has made sure that he continually integrated himself into club affairs, just enough so that if there was anything related to Trails, he was the only one dealing with it. Dirt Art have been "consulting" with the council on this project for well over a decade, which is probably why it's taken so long to get to this stage.

I would be absolutely amazed if Dirt Art aren't appointed to build these trails given how rusted on they are to it.

We have a long and sordid history with Council built/managed trails in the Greater Hobart area and all roads lead back to a single source.
 

pink poodle

気が狂っている男
That is good news. It often seems that a local solution is the last option considered in these situations. The mentality of "we need to pay someone to do it or it isn't worth doing..." Is just too frothy.

Ooooh...2 conflicting reports and my post can swing either way!

Remember when we built our own trails? Those were the days...no dig, no ride .
 

rangersac

Medically diagnosed OMS
@nathanm has a more inside view than me. I just show up for the odd trackcare dig day and they seem well organised. My take on it is Mt Welly is a tough patch to coordinate with a bunch of stakeholders who are hard to please. Add to that your developer types and navigating a path that pleases all is nigh on impossible

Remember when we built our own trails? Those were the days...no dig, no ride .
Lockdown is good for productivity...

 

mark22

Likes Dirt
News on MT Wellington
I can see some hurdles here given Hobart peoples polarising views over the MT.
I reckon the 17 % of people surveyed not supporting MTB are going to be very vocal, that and the lack of proper funding vs project. I wouldn't be holding my breath.
 

Daniel Hale

She fid, he fid, I fidn't
Crazy idea but...could there not be any scope for local clubs to provide planning in collaboration with the relevant authorities and organise volunteer labour to construct so.e of these trails? If it is a council collaboration, they would even have access to plenty of paid labour and equipment that could really get the project rolling while clubs should have some idea about trail planning/management.
relevant authorities do not like letting clubs/volunteers do anything as we are Not experts..our club spent 4k putting 10 of us thru an mtba bldg/maintainance course, counts for nothing..bendigo wanted 50k to do some 10km of trail close to the city, hey were told they didn’t know what they were doing & 700k was gifted to an outside firm...the club has one of the biggest earthmovers in central vic as a prom member, ready to supply gear but hey are not allowed to have it on trail
 

Daniel Hale

She fid, he fid, I fidn't
In the slim chance that the whole allocation goes solely to the trail construction contract, this buys approx*:
5km at World trail rates
7km at Dirt Art rates
8-12km various others

*Doesn't include mobilisation or allowances
is it correct in SA you guys have done a pretty good job of not using the big trail companies, but using your own or local built
 

Stredda

Runs naked through virgin scrub
relevant authorities do not like letting clubs/volunteers do anything as we are Not experts..our club spent 4k putting 10 of us thru an mtba bldg/maintainance course, counts for nothing..bendigo wanted 50k to do some 10km of trail close to the city, hey were told they didn’t know what they were doing & 700k was gifted to an outside firm...the club has one of the biggest earthmovers in central vic as a prom member, ready to supply gear but hey are not allowed to have it on trail
One thing I have realised after being involved with my club the past 10 years is that if you want large amounts of trail to be constructed at a high quality, nothing beats a professional contractor, you just need the coin to do it. A contractor can build 8hrs a day 5 days a week, nonstop with a full crew. Volunteers from my experience, need a few experienced crew members to guide them, are hit and miss when it comes to attendance and usually limited to a few hours a week.
Not saying there isn't a place for volunteer trail building, our club built the Penguin MTB park from volunteer labour but it did take about 6 years to build 6km of trails. We are currently building new trails in the Dial Range behind the Penguin MTB park and are using Next Level Mountain Bike as the contractor. We applied for and received as state and federal grants for the 20km of trail to be constructed. We did all the ground work ourselves like trail alignments, orchid and flora surveys, Reserve Activity Assessments (RAA), Development Applications, and the project management. This stage should be complete in about 6 weeks time.
If we were to do this as a volunteer effort we would be still going in ten years time.
 
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