NSW GreenValleys Freeride Park - the approval process.

yzfr1000

Likes Dirt
Hey mate, good see someone is trying to do something about the wgong dh scene, legitely!!

im keen if you need a hand on the track> when can we come out & meet you there & just scope it & have a ride from top to bottom etc?

pm me as im interested, cheers.
 
just a short update on the project.

Its in the hands of the planning department at the moment. All I can do is wait till the proposal is presented to council.

I'm in the process of completing a special event permit for a one off slopestyle competition for next year.

I will take the application to shellharbour in late January.

I've got to work out the schedule of MTB events in NSW for next year and find the right weekend.

Any ideas for the right date would be great.

I'll update the website shortly...

Keep riding

Nick
 

fredz69

Likes Bikes
Hey Nick

Good to hear is still alive with Council, can be a long process as Council will make you jump through all their hoops

Hope all goes well, you have heaps of support out there

Greg
 

simpson247

Likes Bikes
Hey Nick,

Well done on getting this fair, all our thoughts are with you and the park!
This is going to be so awesome for the local area & for the sport, keen to lend a hand as I live in the area so let me know if you need a hand.
I know you probable are past that point of not return, you may already have been in contact with Matt Brown, i just notice that he is a man that gets projects approved & finished. You always see him in the papers and news, anyway i know you probable need all the help you can get, he is family friend and i could talk to him about the Green Valley project and past on your contact info let me know if you want me to talk to him, if i don't hear from you i wont bother!
Keep up the great work.

Joel
 
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Hi guys,

just an update...

I was told that the approval process was going to be slow, but how slooooooowww can it be...

You wonder if the sport of MTB is ever going to be recognised in the illawarra council network as a legitimate one that needs a facility to cater for it..

My application WILL be finalised by the end of feb, then presented to council in march ... So not long now..

its been 3 years in the making..

fingers crossed, and hopefully the illawarra will get a freeride park..

Nick
 

Red.

Likes Dirt
So is it still coming along. Any photos.
Really keen to see some and how much have you still got to do before the park opens.
 

Dobbo

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Hi guys, Nick is failry busy, but I can tell you things are still progressing. It is unlikely that the park is going to be ready for any major events this year. Approval processes in the illawarra are pretty slow and painful.
Some basic work has been carried out, bit as you would be aware it has been pretty cold and rainy in Oz of late, so this has had an impact on progress. One thing tat makes a good MTB track is steep country, but the rain makes work miserable and hard and the machinery can't work on the slopes safely.
There is still a huge committment to getting the park up and runiing. You can find the Greenvalleys park on facebook, and this is the best place to find out what is happening, latest photos, etc.
 
the park is still coming along, theres a few solid dudes who turn up and track build most weekends, the slopestyle course has started but with crappy weather it has slowed...

When Shellharbour council decide they are ready to see me in a meeting, this project will become legal... its amazing that the council are not prepared to meet me yet, despite the dozens of requests to have my land rezoning requests to be looked at...

sooner or later shellharbour council will work it out..
 

Dobbo

Likes Bikes and Dirt
Grave dig.

Still progressing with Shellharbour Council...indications are that it should go on public exhibition next month.
 
finally the council meeting

so after 17 months of waiting i now have the opportunity to address council on my proposal for a mtb facility in tongarra.

the meeting is tommorrow,tuesday 19th october 2010.

I beleive it is streamed live on the web via the shellharbour website. Its starts at 3pm.

The proposal can be found on page 124 on this link

http://www.shellharbour.nsw.gov.au/filedata/pdf/BPExtraordinaryMeeting19October2010.pdf

Suprisingly the strategic planners are not supportive of the proposal for a variety of reasons. All of which were addressed thoroughly in my planning documents sent to council.

I have prepared a solid speech to council , and i would like to beleive that this proposal will still go ahead.

There are many assumptions based in the report to council by the planning department which clearly demonstrate that they are either unwilling to deal with the proposal, or that they quite clearly do not want to recognise the commitments this proposal is presenting to comply with all council critieria.

here is my speech to council

http://www.4shared.com/file/EpqWpd4T/Address_to_Shellharbour_counci.html

the boxing gloves are off.. I really want to beleive that shellharbour council is a progressive , forward thinking council that will see the merits in a mtb facility in the illawarra..

Nick
 
So the proposal wasn't supported for a variety of reasons. its a clear read in the planning departments report ..

Although some issues were addressed that they clearly chose to ignore , others were not.

I will be preparing a new submission, now that I have a clear picture of what shellharbour council didn't like.

I have a meeting first with the RTA to do an on site inspection on the Illawarra Hwy to discuss what I propose, and see if an agreement can be reached to satisfy the RTA..

If the RTA support my proposal , then the next step is to sit down in a consultation with the dept of state planning , and shellharbour council, and work out land use matters ( ie: the presumed fragmentation of agricultural land)..

I'll keep you posted..
 
so good news..

The RTA got back to me , and they will support the proposal if i fix up an entry to the proposed park from another access point of the illawarra hwy..

They also want me to find another way of shuttling people to the top , which I have in an existing fireroad ... it will just need fixing up a little.

So now its just a matter of tweaking the submission to council which is currently underway..

Once the proposal is tweaked i will sit down with the department of state planning wollongong office , shellharbour council, and nut out the issues ( hopefully none by then) and get this park approved for DA works...

The worst part about all of this , is that i made around 50 phone calls to the shellharbour strategic planners office in the last 17 months about my proposal , asking how its going etc... and not once did they say that they may have a problem ( like the rta issues) and i should address these issues . You just get a blunt - no we dont approve it , go away..

I hate to be an antagonist for mtb activists.. But shellharbour council are f***n useless...

Nick
 

Dobbo

Likes Bikes and Dirt
What scares me about Spanky's post is that there would be so many people wanting that.

Edit: It seem like the gullible are always there.Qick search of the net finds people wanting to buy it and trying to find out where......
 
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Got a meeting on monday 29th on site with flora and fauna expert ryan smithers form eco aus and steve richardson form cowman stoddart (nowra) to discuss new changes and come up with a new proposal..

fingers crossed that they come up with a positive view on the use of the existing fire road for shuttling and also that the new carpark area will be deemed to be "acceptable" from a land use perspective..

Other issues such as visual impact and fragmentation of agricultural land will be discussed..

I'm pulling my hair out right now..
 

Bacca

Likes Dirt
Hey Nick,

Your persistance is remarkable man, keep up the fine work. :cool:

I don't think you were far off the mark with your submission and at least you now have a better idea of what they want. Like you said though it's just a shame that they couldn't of been more help along the way especially when they acknowledge the spin offs the park will bring.

I had a good read of the response from the council you posted up and it seems that yes they are making many assumptions but I also think that they are covering their arses too and are looking well into the future. In my opinion they are just preparing themselves for this park to end up like a mini Whistler! It is after all an awesome and rare part of the world out at Tongarra that you want to build on.

Regards
Bacca
 
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