Blackwood Mountain bike Master Plan

[guswa]

Tuesday 22nd June members of the mountain bike community from around the south west had a meeting with DEC (Department of Environment and Conservation )to discuss the possibility of a mountain bike plan for the blackwood region .

The area covers from Bunbury to Donnybrook Bridgetown down to black point on the coast right thru to Agusta, Dunsborough and Busselton. A large area with plenty of bush and diversity of terrain.

Every discipline of riding will be covered, form downhilling, xc pump tracks, 4x, back country riding, you name it.

A working group will form, representing the three clubs in the area, SWMTB, Margret River and the Cape club and reps from various towns and interest groups.

There is also scope to form a smaller advisory group.

At the moment we are seeking interested people from each club and town/area who are prepared to take the step of being part of a long term advocacy plan.

Its expected the planning period to be 2 years at this stage.

DEC officials have offered to be part of the working group and advisory committee. They are also offering their assistance and any help they can provide to help bring the mtb master plan to fruitation. This includes meeting venues, access to expert funding advisors and much more.
This is a one off chance to plan carefully for the future of mtb in the SW for the foreseeable future.

With DEC leading the way asking for the participation of mountain bikers to take a mature and organized approach, I feel they are leading the state in mtb trail advocacy in a way that has never been seen before.

If you live in the blackwood area and want to be involved, post your interest or email

trails@swmtbc.asn.au
Some areas of interest and ideas.

Nannup-Balingup: Downhill center, gravity riding, pine plantations.
Margret river: Trails tourism, margs home turf
Dunsborough : Cape clubs home turf. Meelup
Kirup : Was our home turf before moving to Pile rd.
Bridgetown : Ancient xc centre, possible DH trails. and more.
Busselton : Secret whicher trails
Capel : Happy Valley freeride.
Donnybrook : The birthplace of mountain biking in the SW

DEC also mentioned:
Dirt Jumps
Pump Tracks
Flow trails
Skills parks

 

[walffles]

Blackwood mountain bike trails master plan

Blackwood Mountainbike Master Plan.

The 1st official meeting of the Blackwood MTB Master Plan committee was held on the 20th July at the Busselton DEC office.

Representatives from DEC, SW mtb club, Margret River club, Busselton and Donnybrook shires were in attendance.

High on the agenda was discussing the role of the committee and how we would fulfill that role.
DEC will only deal with clubs, and it was highlighted that individuals will need to join and be part of the official process via the clubs to design and develop trails.

Types of riding disciplines were then discussed as to identify who we were catering for and the types of areas that would be suitable for that particular discipline. All types of riding will be catered for, where there is demand for it. Down hill, dirt jumps, trails parks, epic riding, free riding, family trails, you name it, can be catered for. Other aspects were covered such as proximity to towns, phone coverage areas, gravity riding locations, existing disused trails, Toilets, parking, shuttle access plus much more.

Next we moved onto sensitive issues and locations of why trails will not be permitted in particular areas. Rare flora and fauna, endangered eco systems, dieback issues and other sensitive areas were pointed out..

Now the best bit. The areas where trails access could be allowed.
The areas were many and large, I was surprised at how much actual land and the coverage across the Blackwood region we could get potential access to. DEC was very helpful in this respect, even pointing out that areas not managed by them, could be accessed via the right channels, with their help. Shire managed land, private property, Forest products commission controlled plantations are not to be left out of the equation.

A detailed map of the Blackwood area was plastered over a wall of the DEC conference room. Now I love good maps, but the size of this map had me just awestruck. I had never seen anything like it in my life. The Committee members will be given free access to laminated copies of maps to use for planning.

I have to point out that the DEC reps are attending these meetings in their own time after hours at our convenience, so I will take my hat off to them for their dedication, time and effort put into this committee to make sure this master planning works correctly from the start.

The Next meeting will be 24th August.

 

[walffles]

Borcag

BORCAG

The 3rd blackwood meeting took place in bussleton on the 24th august.
There was a more complete representation from the black wood region.
New faces from the cape club, Busselton, Bridgetown and Down hill reps were at the meeting.

A tittle for the group has been agreed upon.
Blaclwood Off Road Cycling Advisory Group.
BORCAG

This group is the 1st of its kind in WA, and the pressure is on to get things right with the eyes of Australia keeping a close watch on how we progress.

It was re-empathised that DEC will not deal with individuals , you must be part of a club.

DEC have had correspondence in from a motorcross group stating that our mtb trails will be impacting on their riding... Basically the motor cross riders have got wind of our group and are putting a campaign of some type to reduce our impact of trail planning for fear that it will deplete their riding space and push them out.

The basics of BORCAG committee will be:
SW club x 2 people
Margret river club x2
cape club x2
Potential bridgetown club x2
Potential nannup club x2
Dealing with Mundabiddi when needed.

We then went thru the "No Go" areas, an explanation of why they are no go area range from endangered frogs, rare flora and Disease Risk Areas. DRA.
Overall the “no go” areas are small and limited, and will not have any major impact on trails master plan. There are plenty of opportunities for corridors around any sensitive areas.

Talk of a SW alliance of clubs. SWMBA South West MountainBike Alliance, all agreed in principle, good idea will be more on this.

We also talked a little about the Leeuwin-Naturaliste Capes Area Parks and Reserves management draft plan due out soon, which is currently sitting on a minister’s desk, waiting to be released. Being an organized group in conjunction with DEC, BORCAG should have a lot more pull when it come to commenting on the draft plan.

Agenda for next meeting is to start putting forward our wish list of trails master planning Keeping in mind, planning for every group, family, gravity riding, trails centre, epic trails, jump parks ect ect.

With everyone from the different areas now having attended and knowing whos who, the focus will be getting on with the job of planning, which I see as the fun part.
The group has intimate knowledge of the whole Blackwood region, with backup and help from DEC. Im positive that the mtb master plan can start happening and please all disciplines of riding. To say we are entering an exciting time, would be an understatement.

Next meeting 21st September
Busselton DEC 7 pm.

 

[dissa]

Keep up the good work peepz. Hope it all goes to plan. Will be down that way some time soon to catch up.