Brisbane DH Submission to Council

[Kram]

I have now officially made the submission to the Brisbane City Council in an attempt to gain access to public land for a DH track.

After writing the draft, I asked a number of riders and non riders to read it and offer advice. I took input from Elite riders, shop owners and shuttle mates to make sure it represented the MTB community properly.

The submission has been under a few revisions and the end result is attached here for people who are interested to know what was included.

The response on the petitions was admittedly a little disappointing with only a small number of people returning the forms. I hope combined with the submission it will be enough to get some action going within the council. I'll keep you posted on any developments.

 

[scblack]

Kram, great submission - covers everything I can possibly think of well.

One suggestion though. Maybe adding a section on the commercial benefit which the area would generate. A good number of visitors can be expected, and the accommodation they would require, the families who would bring their children to the area, all of which will add to the economy in the area. Especially if you have competition events. Look at Coffs this weekend. 220 or so riders, many with families, most who travelled from well outside Coffs area, all added plenty to the local businesses, especially hotels/motels, pubs, food places, and caravan parks.

If you build it, they will come......with money.

Just a suggestion.

 

[shmi]

that was great, perfect peice of writting. hopefully it will make a bit of difference along with al the letters being sent to the council regardign the coureer mail issue. post up the reply as soon as you get it. and if you need any help with any of this after the 21st pm me and i am more then happy to help.

 

[MrPlow]

Kram, SCBlack's suggestion is a good one, that's how we got the Toowoomba Land as well.

 

[coopsy]

Having just moved to Brisbane from Canberra, I was surprised at the lack of local trail access. Massive thanks to Kram, Gillian Duncan and the GCTA for the hours they have put in to the expansion of riding areas up here.
Good luck with the submission, and if there is anything that can be done to assist (apart from digging days, which I intend to participate in), just let me know.

 

[siz]

Awesome - top effort dude

 

[junek]

great proposition mate.
we are currently starting a draft submission to council on the northern beaches of sydney. Keep us posted on what council has to say about your submission as ours if shaping up to be similar.

jamie

 

[Kram]

Thanks for the suggestions SC Black. I think you have a made a good point and it was certainly a consideration for a time. The reason it is not in there however is that within the BCC area, the tracks that we can potentially build will not be race tracks. There simply isn't the terrain or an appropriate area in the council jurasdiction that would ever be appropriate (especially considering the opposition to the activity). Part of the negativity associated with DH is the issue of speed and the impact that racing will have on a track. It was decided that the approach would be to provide recreation for young people rather than suggest it could bring money in, when in reality it probably won't. Most DHers feel that the number one mission is to acquire access to a local track to practice on during the week. There are other race venues and places to train if you are prepared to drive and BCC has little or nothing to do with these areas. Perhaps future lobbying will include other jurasdictions with a view to have a race track.

A much lessor reason, but still a factor, is that I was given advice from a number of people to shorten it. I've taken a bit of a specific angle in hopes it is the best one. Right now there is a lot of talk about getting fat kids outside, so this was felt to be the best approach. Of course, at this point in time it had better be, as this has already been submitted.

Thanks for the comments of support guys.

 

[fallboy]

Awesome submission Kram.

just one question though, will they know where abouts the tracks are that you talk about? Perhaps you need some maps. Then again perhaps not.

 

[scblack]

Thanks for the suggestions SC Black. I think you have a made a good point and it was certainly a consideration for a time. The reason it is not in there however is that within the BCC area, the tracks that we can potentially build will not be race tracks. There simply isn't the terrain or an appropriate area in the council jurasdiction that would ever be appropriate (especially considering the opposition to the activity). Part of the negativity associated with DH is the issue of speed and the impact that racing will have on a track. It was decided that the approach would be to provide recreation for young people rather than suggest it could bring money in, when in reality it probably won't. Most DHers feel that the number one mission is to acquire access to a local track to practice on during the week. There are other race venues and places to train if you are prepared to drive and BCC has little or nothing to do with these areas. Perhaps future lobbying will include other jurasdictions with a view to have a race track.

A much lessor reason, but still a factor, is that I was given advice from a number of people to shorten it. I've taken a bit of a specific angle in hopes it is the best one. Right now there is a lot of talk about getting fat kids outside, so this was felt to be the best approach. Of course, at this point in time it had better be, as this has already been submitted.

Thanks for the comments of support guys.

No problems Kram - good luck with it all.

 

[MrPlow]

Keep up the good work Kram.

Actualy no, fcuk it! Your council isn't as cool as ours, cut your losses and move to Toowoomba!

 

[frank-oi]

excellantly writen. i study forestry and have read my fair share of management plans and the like. the content and the detail in that is second to none. far better then some NP and DPI management plans as well. the comparision for what other citys have got is great.

lets hope it goes ahead.

 

[top_dog]

Good stuff Kram. Keep up the good work.

I hope you have some success.

 

[punk_downhiller]

Any news back from the council yet?

good read, and it'll be interesting to see how the council respond to that.

keep us updated mate

 

[Kram]

Nothing yet mate.

I'm off to Canada for 6 weeks next week, so it will be awhile before I have any news. Hopefully by the time I get back, they will be ready to deal with the issue.