No, they're not. I stumbled upon them some time back......there are a few firetrails in the vicinity but the jumps didn't encroach on them at all. The water pipeline is close by but runs next to a publically accessible fire trail.Are the jumps in the piccie built in the middle of / blocking a fire access trail ?
Fair points. But, as someone who's been pretty heavily involved in trying to get legal dirt jumps in Sydney, I reckon these guys have done pretty well. In the context of landowners, Sydney Water probably aren't among the worst (e.g. National Parks), and at least they've had somewhere to ride for the past while. And, never know, maybe something will come out of this yet....Devil’s advocate….
From where I sit I can see 4m wide of native habitat that has been cleared of native vegetation and removal of topsoils, without consent. That’s pretty much what any decent land manager will see. They won’t see the awesomeness of your jumps and appreciate the hours of effort you went to construct them, or miles that anyone would travel to use them, they see destruction of the land and habitat that they are responsible for protecting. If I were to get caught doing this outside my farming property that borders state forest because I wanted to build a jumps track, fire break or whatever reason I would be taken to court for illegal clearing and destruction of habitat. Also, if it's water authority land then the penalties could be worse for disrupting vegetation, especially if it’s a water catchment area? ...Just saying.
I think you are on the right track getting support and trying to legalize the trails, but I think you should also do a bit more research on the land, what it's classified as (crown land, state forest, conservation area, catchment area ???) and who are the departments and organizations responsible for it, are there any local indigenous areas of significance or claims over the land or bodies responsible for what happens to it or on it, does the land manager have a management plan for the land, is there any issues/aspects that would prohibit this, when is it up for review, etc. That way you know the issues, the enemies and can prepare for the battle. Good luck with it. It wont be easy, but things that are truly worthwhile never are.
.......... but was a bit pissed to see a Greenpeace story pop up on the following page. Those people are bloody muppets.
Why not? I've never seen Greenpeace do anything responsible and I figure anyone who supports their methods probably has a few roo's loose in their top paddock.Dear Mr Dozer I dont think you need to be critical of change .org + call them muppets.
if the cap fits.call them muppets.
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In their defence, they are actually quite good. I'd put this one down to the reporter's lack of understanding. I'm involved with the trail building at Menai and whilst i've not had any dealings with council on a personal level, i'm reliably informed that a lot of the people involved ride bikes (MTB, not just roadies) and those that they've have consulted are all too aware of the different riding genres.What I found really typical in the article is the mention of the bmx race track they are building at the ridge.
It shows the people who are controlling our sport on the council end doesn't actually know what we do.
They don't seem to have knowledge it seems like they still see riding as bmx or xc and something kids do.
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I could be wrong but it seems like from the council side there is massive lack of understanding.
Well that's good to hear.In their defence, they are actually quite good. I'd put this one down to the reporter's lack of understanding. I'm involved with the trail building at Menai and whilst i've not had any dealings with council on a personal level, i'm reliably informed that a lot of the people involved ride bikes (MTB, not just roadies) and those that they've have consulted are all too aware of the different riding genres.