Mt Dandy trail saga and PV land management

[link1896]

That's what I tell people here, it's coming up to an election where they're chasing every last vote. Time to contact your local MP and see where they stand when it comes to mountain biking, because they will be the people voting on allocated funding for trails.

8pm, evening sitting. You’re voting on a parks funding bill. 4 wines in. It’s the bottom of the list of a bunch of other bullshit things that need gov attention. “No one cares about this crap”

Ring and speak to an office staffer.
Email.
Social media.

It all helps

 

[komdotkom]

As someone who works closely with a few government agencies some of the comments in this thread are spot on. All state government departments are under financial pressure at the moment due to the expenses incurred by COVID and staff reduction, reduced spending and increased efficiency dividends will be commonplace for the foreseeable future.

The other aspect that has been touched on which resonates with me is that the squeaky wheel gets the money. A significant ground swell of support in a marginal seat for MTB trails and a solid (Karen free) social media campaign are likely to be more successful than a perfectly completed application process and quiet reasonable lobbying.
Unless there's a political payoff for a local member or party don't think for a second that a worthy cause will be prioritised over a photo opportunity and ribbon cutting or damage control.

What confuses me about PV is the attitude to unsanctioned trails. One of the phrases that gets used often in our office is 'you can't be half pregnant', so you are either anti unsanctioned trails or you endorse them. It's this tacit agreement that trails like Smiths Gully are ok which muddys the waters for many people who assume that if it's acceptable in one area this must also apply to another.

There are now enough people involved with MTB that PV need to have a dedicated team to deal with the demand planning, response to community requests and policy. While this is in stark contrast to my first paragraph enough pressure on ministers and local members will find the money from somewhere (possibly at the expense of another group who don't advocate as hard, bird watchers I'm talking about you).

While we'd all like amazing MTB parks on every corner free of charge (I pay my taxes you know!) I would fully support a user pays system. Yes this is hard to regulate because there will always be people who won't pay because they are grubs, but that's a problem for the MTB community to solve not Govco; lateral thinking and technology implementation are not their strong suits.

 

[Calvin27]

There are now enough people involved with MTB that PV need to have a dedicated team to deal with the demand planning, response to community requests and policy.

RB really needs to start listing these jobs when they come up! You can fight with sticks and stones or you can infiltrate and take it over .

While we'd all like amazing MTB parks on every corner free of charge (I pay my taxes you know!) I would fully support a user pays system. Yes this is hard to regulate because there will always be people who won't pay because they are grubs, but that's a problem for the MTB community to solve not Govco; lateral thinking and technology implementation are not their strong suits.

Not sure I agree with this. I am happy to pay, but plenty of other sports get subsidised to the hilt. Look how much swimming pools cost for local govrnment to operate and build. Playground prices will make your eyes water with even simply ones costing over $200k. Skate parks are not cheap either and then there is the usual culprits like cricket and footy ovals that actually suck in a fair amount of budget to keep looking good.

MTB trails in comparison are cheap to make, realtively less to maintain (i.e. lysty is volunteer run) and do not displace other land uses. The real problem is the knee jerk response from the fun police who think they are going to be sued to oblivion if someone crashes. They have a point but this is kind of at odds with the progress in litigation happy usa.

 

[Ackland]

Not sure I agree with this. I am happy to pay, but plenty of other sports get subsidised to the hilt. Look how much swimming pools cost for local govrnment to operate and build. Playground prices will make your eyes water with even simply ones costing over $200k. Skate parks are not cheap either and then there is the usual culprits like cricket and footy ovals that actually suck in a fair amount of budget to keep looking good.

FWIW you're lucky to see change from $150K for a 2 stall enclosed waste toilet at a trailhead

MTB trails in comparison are cheap to make, realtively less to maintain (i.e. lysty is volunteer run) and do not displace other land uses. The real problem is the knee jerk response from the fun police who think they are going to be sued to oblivion if someone crashes. They have a point but this is kind of at odds with the progress in litigation happy usa.

MTB trail development "cost" is subjective I guess...
Native veg offsets can in some cases be 0.7:1 with physical trail construction cost so you can end up approaching $100/m
Network designs to receive approval are often in excess of $50K depending on scope
Ongoing maintenance is approx. $1.50/m annually for the life of a trail so for large networks, this operating cost gets pretty big

 

[Flow-Rider]

FWIW you're lucky to see change from $150K for a 2 stall enclosed waste toilet at a trailhead


MTB trail development "cost" is subjective I guess...
Native veg offsets can in some cases be 0.7:1 with physical trail construction cost so you can end up approaching $100/m
Network designs to receive approval are often in excess of $50K depending on scope
Ongoing maintenance is approx. $1.50/m annually for the life of a trail so for large networks, this operating cost gets pretty big

It gets expensive, I don't think you'll get many professional trail building companies coming in at under $300/m these days.

 

[Flow-Rider]

RB really needs to start listing these jobs when they come up! You can fight with sticks and stones or you can infiltrate and take it over .



Not sure I agree with this. I am happy to pay, but plenty of other sports get subsidised to the hilt. Look how much swimming pools cost for local govrnment to operate and build. Playground prices will make your eyes water with even simply ones costing over $200k. Skate parks are not cheap either and then there is the usual culprits like cricket and footy ovals that actually suck in a fair amount of budget to keep looking good.

MTB trails in comparison are cheap to make, realtively less to maintain (i.e. lysty is volunteer run) and do not displace other land uses. The real problem is the knee jerk response from the fun police who think they are going to be sued to oblivion if someone crashes. They have a point but this is kind of at odds with the progress in litigation happy usa.

Council still need to do all the paper work for volunteer type work, like the environmental and cultural impact studies, even site inductions for volunteers. A lot of this was ignored years ago but now things have changed.

Plenty of money around.

Summary of Council grant programs

All Brisbane City Council grant programs for 2019-20 are summarised, including opening and closing dates.

www.brisbane.qld.gov.au

 

[Plankosaurus]

Hey boys and girls, most of you are probably well on top of this, but we've got a few days left to make a submission to the people calling the shots on the warburton project. If you havn't already, please jump on and have your say:

Warburton Mountain Bike Destination Inquiry and Advisory Committee

The Inquiry and Advisory Committee seeks submissions to advise the Minister for Planning on the Environment Effects Statement and draft Planning Scheme Amendment

engage.vic.gov.au

I know mountainbikers outnumber militant conservationists, but they're a motivated and organised force so i wouldn't put it past them to have some pretty significant numbers submitting empassioned pleas to keep us MTB rabble away. Jump on and add your numbers, we have until 25/1/22 - next tuesday...

 

[Jpez]

Hey boys and girls, most of you are probably well on top of this, but we've got a few days left to make a submission to the people calling the shots on the warburton project. If you havn't already, please jump on and have your say:

Warburton Mountain Bike Destination Inquiry and Advisory Committee

The Inquiry and Advisory Committee seeks submissions to advise the Minister for Planning on the Environment Effects Statement and draft Planning Scheme Amendment

engage.vic.gov.au

I know mountainbikers outnumber militant conservationists, but they're a motivated and organised force so i wouldn't put it past them to have some pretty significant numbers submitting empassioned pleas to keep us MTB rabble away. Jump on and add your numbers, we have until 25/1/22 - next tuesday...

What he says above. Submissions close tonight.

 

[beeb]

What he says above. Submissions close tonight.

Done.

 

[slowmick]

If you are running short on time you can use the specialized form letter - better than nothing...



To The Minister for Planning,

Submission on the proposed Warburton Mountain Bike Destination project.



I am writing in support of the development of the proposed Warburton Mountain Bike Destination Project. I believe that the positive impact that this trail network would have is immense.

It would not only bring and estimated 128,000 unique visitors to the region, participating in over 220,000 rides per annum but create an estimated 220 jobs and inject $48 million to this regional area annually.

It would be also beneficial for the region to have a formal trail network that is professionally built, decreasing the likelihood of illegally made, unsustainable trails. As pointed out in the biodiversity report the impact on flora and fauna of creating a narrow strip of single-track is minimal.



Beyond that I believe that mountain biking is a truly inclusive sport that helps people connect not only with one another but with nature, giving a new perspective and appreciation for our environment.



I feel that this project is too important and beneficial to the regional and mountain biking communities not to be completed and it would be a missed opportunity on so many levels.

Thank you for your time and consideration.